The Price We Pay For Love
by TheMysteryGirl111
Summary: The Northern 'Queen' threatens to kill Edmund while he is held captive along with Eris. What would Peter and the others do to save their brother's life and to fight for Narnia's freedom? And what impact will this hold for the future? I'm not good with summaries but this is better than it sounds, Edmund/OC, and lot's of brotherly love! Rated T for sexual content and violence.
1. Volume 1: Prologue

**Hey guys! this is my first Narnian story so please go easy on me. This chapter is sort of a prologue; it's introducing you to the character so I hope you enjoy it! Review and tell me what you think :)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Narnia or the characters except for the character Eris.**

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She was diverse. Different from the rest of the them.

Most girls had a family but she had none.

Most girls loved big puffy dresses whereas she had no interest.

Most girls giggle and gossip about the Kings of Narnia… but she hardly knew who they were so she didn't pay attention to gossip.

Most girls dream of their knight and shining armour… she looked more into reality and realized that there is no such thing, they're all fantasy and made up in her opinion

Most girls wear make-up and afford new shoes… she wore very little and keeps the same shoes once a year but manages to keep them clean at the same time.

Most girls would never dream of holding a weapon, but she did, she owned her own sword since the age of 5 when her father gave it to her before he was killed; she found sword practice fun and would carry her sword anywhere with her.

Most girls wore big fancy dresses; however, she wore casual clothing, nothing that would stand out. She owned her own armour which was specially made for her by her mother, for she knew the love her daughter had with sword fighting and soon made her an armour that would best fit her and protect her from harm. This also included a helmet which would completely secure her identity which meant that no one can know who is under the armour. She loved it.

Unlike most girls, she was brave, intelligent and talented with weapons. She was fierce and most people were afraid of her for fear of getting hurt.

When in actual fact, she would never hurt the innocent, she is threateningly loyal to her country ever since the Telmarines took over and lost the war against Narnia.

She wasn't in the battle of course for she was in Archenland at the time trying to get more money for the sake of her life. She would have been there though. If only she knew

But she stood out from everyone around her, because she was what they called a 'half breed', meaning that she was half and half of a race. Her mother was a Narnian, whereas her father was from Archenland.

Although it hasn't been a law to treat half breeds differently, some people believe that it's horrifying and so, many more people conformed to that belief.

She's used to people calling her names 'half breed' 'coward' or things like 'you should be ashamed of yourself' 'no wonder you're different to other people'.

At first it bothered her when people called her names and remarks, but she soon learned to shake it off because she believes in the great lion Aslan and nobody can judge her but him.

She loved to fight. She was a brave warrior; she can defend herself well and wins many fights against people especially the boys.

Many boys try to avoid to spar with her as they fear of getting beaten…especially by a girl!

She would walk with her head held high, her black wavy curls trailing mid-way down her back, her piercing light brown eyes roaming around her surroundings.

She didn't care.

She couldn't care less what people thought of her. Yes, she wouldn't deny that she wasn't like other girls; after all, she just did what she loved to do.

Like most warriors, she had been through a lot, she can remember the day her family got killed by Telmarines, luckily, she was hidden so they never found her.

From then on, her hate for Telmarines raged all over her. She had no family, because of them.

The sun was beginning to set and the temperature began to drop slowly.

'T'is time to get some woods' she thought to herself as she stood up slowly, exhausted from sword practice.

She wondered around the forest to find some small woods so she can make a fire.

She stopped suddenly.

_'What was that'_ she thought to herself. She heard something. It sounded like someone was crying.

She went to grab her sword but stopped when she realized who was making the noise.

A young faun appeared. He was quite small; his height was up to the older girls' knees.

She supposed it was a very young faun.

The faun was crying and looked up at the girl with pleading eyes.

"p-please help, I-I think I'm lost" the young faun stuttered from fear and sadness. His green eyes were impossible to resist. He was shivering and was sniffing as he was crying

The older girl looked at the young faun for a second and took a good look around to see if anyone else was with him…looks like he was alone.

The older girl went down on one knee so she was eye-level with the young faun. She held on to the younger faun's upper arms and squeezed it reassuringly.

"Are you lost?" she questioned wondering what this young faun was doing here at this time of evening.

The young faun nodded slowly, "I-I don't know where my house is, and I don't know where my mum is either, please help me, I'm scared someone will attack me"

The older girl felt sorry for the faun, she knew what it felt like to be lost. The night where her family lay dead on the ground she didn't know what to do, she felt lost and miserable, she cried for weeks knowing that there was no one to turn to.

She reached up tentatively to wipe a tear away from his already puffy eyes and smiled at him

"Don't worry, I'll get you back home, don't cry, I hate seeing people cry", she looked at the faun expectantly and after a few moments, the faun twitched the end of his lips forming a smile, "That's it, don't cry now, it's going to be okay, now tell me the area in which you live and I will take you there".

The faun suddenly paused, deep in thought. There was a hint of worry in his features.

"I-I don't know", he started crying again; "oh I'm so stupid!"

"No, you are not stupid, look at me" the older girl commanded.

The young faun looked at her with shiny tearful eyes.

"You are not stupid", she told him calmly, "Listen, walking around the forest at this time of night is dangerous, you never know what kinds of creatures could be lurking out here, now how would you like to sleep here over night and we will look for your mother first thing in the morning, how does that sound?"

The young faun thought for a moment, worried that his mum would be looking for him but at the same time, worried about the creatures lurking around the forest at the night, so he nodded his head.

The older girl smiled and stood up, offering her hand to the young faun which he took without hesitation.

The older girl picked up a couple of woods on her way back.

When they reached their destination, the young faun looked around, there were still in the forest.

"You live here?" He asked.

The older girl shook her head still looking into the fire she made, "No of course not, I don't live anywhere, I find places to sleep and then I take off in the morning after sword practice".

The faun seemed shocked. Didn't she have a family? Didn't she have a home?

"B-but don't you have a family?" He asked quieter this time, his curly ginger hair sweeping over his green eyes.

There was a pause and the older girl sighed, not wanting to talk about it, but figured that she had to, seeing as the faun still had his eyes on her,

"I did, a long time ago" she chuckled to herself at the memories she had with her family, her brown eyes never leaving the flames, after a while she looked up to see a sorrowful look in the fauns' face,

"They died when I was 5, by the Telmarines, I was so scared, I hid behind a tree and was never seen, which is why I wasn't killed, after that, I had no one. I was by my self and I blame the Telmarines for my parents' death…I've forgotten what it's like to feel loved or wanted", when she finished, she didn't realize her eyes were watering.

The young faun saw she was teary and stood up to sit next to her, he put her hand on her shoulder,

"I'm sorry about that", the older girl looked at her and realized that he really meant it, she could see it in the younger fauns' eyes. She couldn't help but smile.

"How old are you faun?" she wondered this for quite a while.

"I'm 7 years young, Miss", the young faun said politely. The older girl smirked,

"Well you sure do understand a lot about feelings for a 7 year old".

They both laughed.

After they ate, which wasn't a lot, they decided that it was time to sleep. The older girl made them both a blanket made from leaves to warm them up during the night.

The young faun couldn't help but admire the older girl. She was very brave. Especially for someone with no family. She sure went through a lot.

"I can't imagine my life with my mother", the young faun said once he was comfortably tucked in.

"Hmmm?" The older girl said, obviously exhausted from a days work especially after looking after a lost faun.

The younger faun decided to stop talking after realizing that the older girl will never reply so he told her 'Goodnight' which she didn't respond. Obviously she was already asleep by then.

It was early morning when the older girl woke up, she looked to her side and there on the other side lay the younger faun, curled to his side sleeping soundly. One of his hoofs were hung outside of his blanket and he was snoring lightly. This made the older girl chuckle.

She smiled to herself and quickly got up and strapped her sword back to her hips and picked up a backpack which contained her armour. The fire was already out while they were sleeping.

A few minutes later, the younger faun awoke. He stretched and saw that the older girl was already up and ready to go, she was sat on a log polishing her sword. The older girl looked up to see the faun awake and staring at the sword on her lap.

"Well good morning to you too sleepy head", she said amused by the look on the fauns face, she knew what he was thinking. The faun continued staring at the sword and looked somehow scared.

The older girl laughed, "Don't worry, I'm not going to kill you, I carry this with me all the time, and I decided to polish it until you wake up, and now you're awake, so do you want to get going?",

She stood up and the young faun nodded and stood up. He walked over to her grabbing her hand just in case.

Together, they walked along the woods, in the direction she found the young faun yesterday.

They walked until the afternoon where they decided to sit down, rest and eat, which again, wasn't enough. The young faun was not satisfied when it came to food; no wonder the girl was so thin.

He started wondering what his mum could be doing right now, but then decided that it won't help with his anxiety.

They set off again with their search of the fauns' mother.

"So tell me", the older girl said after a minute of thinking, "What is your life like with your mother?" she was very curious about this that she decided to just ask him and get some answers.

The young faun thought for a moment,

"My mother is like my best friend, she helps me with everything, whenever I'm feeling sad or upset, she will always cheer me up. She isn't like those typical mothers where they boss you around or tell you what to do, no. We always do things together and it's really fun, I really like my mother, she's awesome",

The older girl listened, admiring the relationship he has with his mother and remembering a time where she had the same relationship with her mother as well, they were the good times indeed.

She paused before she asked the next question,

"...And you're dad?" she didn't turn to look at the fauns' face for she feared she will see him cry again.

The young faun thought for a moment again, "Well, come to think of it, I never really knew my father, I've never met him" he said curiously as if he has never thought of it in his life.

The older girl certainly didn't expect that answer, but shook it off anyway; after all, it's good to know more about this faun. At first she thought he was just a typical everyday faun who would wonder around the woods doing Aslan-knows-what. But now she really sees what he is like which was interesting to her.

"You know, I've never had a real friend before", the young faun said, turning to look at the older girl as they continued to search.

At this, the older girl paused. 'Real friend'? She has never had a real friend before either. This made her smile. For he was also her real friend as well.

"Yeah, same" she said gladly, "I'm glad to have met you, you know, it's nice to have some company every once in a while, especially since I have no one…"

The older girl paused, almost regretting those words. She felt sorry for herself.

The young faun seemed to have felt sorry for the older girl as well, but he didn't want it to end there so he decided to change the subject,

"Um, how old are you?" the faun asked carefully but soon realizing that he'd been wondering the same thing since they met yesterday

"I'm fifteen", the girl said. The faun was quite surprised at this, she was 8 years older than him! This made him feel smaller than he already was. "I hope we find your mother soon, I mean, it's not that I want to get rid of you or anything like that, it's just… I don't want you to feel upset that you aren't with your mother, it's a horrible feeling"

The younger faun understood, "yeah, I guess it is"

By this time, they were already out of the forest and into a land that she didn't know, but kept going on anyway in hope to find the fauns' mother. The older girl wanted to know more about this little faun so she asked more questions,

"So what do you do in your spare time?" The young faun seemed to think about this for a minute.

The girl realized that he'd changed overnight, yesterday he was scared and lost and now he's more confident and bubbly, she liked that.

"Well, sometimes I-" then he gasped "Mother! Mother is that you? Oh Mother!" the younger faun spotted his mother from a distance and ran to her.

Gutted that she didn't get to hear his response, she took off running after him. When she made it, she saw a much older faun hugging her son in a tight embrace. The sight almost bought tears to the older girls' eyes. At last, he's home again.

They stayed like that for a few minutes and the girl decided to let them be so she turned to leave,

"Wait! Don't go!" the young faun called out to her. The older girl stopped and turned around,

"Mum, this girl helped me find my way back home" his mother looked over to her, "I am honoured for your help, I've been worried about Finn since yesterday, thank you, oh thank you so much for helping him back to me" with this, she hugged the younger faun, or Finn, as she called him.

Finn finally let go of the embrace and looked towards the older girl,

"I guess I'll be seeing you again soon, right?" the faun was looking at her expectantly and the older girl smiled, "Of course we will!" she turned around to leave when Finn called out again,

"I don't even know your name!"

The older girl turned to face the little faun with a smile "I'm Eris, and it was absolutely delightful to meet you"

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**AAAAAAAAAAAAAH! My first Narnian fan fiction! Don't worry guys, there will be new chapters up soon. This is not the end! NO! This is just the beginning =)**

**I hope you like this so far and please review, I don't mind getting constructive criticism, it will help me a lot so tell me what you think. And no, Eris is ****NOT ****a Mary-Sue in any way, shape or form… if she was, she would've had blonde hair and green eyes. Please review, reviews are love.**


	2. V1: Edmund and the leopard incident

**Hey guys! Finally the second chapter is up yay! I hope you like this so far. Just to clarify, the ages of the Pevensie's in this story are:**

**Peter: 18**

**Susan: 17**

**Edmund: 15**

**Lucy: 12**

**Caspian: 18**

**I've already mentioned Eris's age in the first chapter so I hope I got that off your backs hehe =)**

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They were all sitting in the sand, with the sea a couple of meters away. Peter was laying next to Edmund with Lucy on the other side and Susan was busy talking to Caspian and giggling about what Caspian said.

Edmund couldn't help but roll his eyes at that, everywhere around him he always saw couples. Even at balls and parades; it would drive him mad. Although he didn't actually know why, that's what made it even worse. He didn't know why.

Peter knew that look and chuckled at Edmund with amusement; he was going to say something but kept his mouth shut because he knew Edmund would feel odd afterwards.

Lucy was laying on the sand in hopes to get a nice sunny tan which made the others laugh because Lucy already had that gorgeous tan colour that everyone would die for.

Edmund observed the others and tried to compare their skin colors to Lucy's'. Well for starters, Susan and Lucy's' skin colour were similar so there was no way in telling who was more tan. Caspian was already naturally tanned so he didn't have to worry; after all, most Telmarines were born with a little bit of a darker skin tone. Peter was quite pale, but he had a golden shade to it, which was interesting to Ed.

Whenever Peter was sick, he would go ghostly pale, that's how they all knew when Peter was sick even though Peter would deny it every time, they wouldn't get fooled by it.

Edmund however, was always pale, he'd always had been. He would never tan even if his life depended on it. He would try to get a tan but would result in sun burn instead, so he just gave up. When he was sick, Edmund would turn white as snow, it was almost scary to the others but they were used to it.

Edmund sat up. He was bored, they can't expect to laze around all day did they?

To Edmunds relief, Lucy spoke up, "Peter, can we do something exciting? I'm a bit bored and I can't be bothered to try and get a tan, you know it will take ages" she said with a huff.

Peter sat up at that as well, "What would you like to do today Lu?" by this time, Susan and Caspian were listening as well as did Edmund.

Lucy thought about it for a moment, she had an idea but then shook her head pathetically. Peter saw that move, "What were going to say Lu, you know we are up for your ideas"

Lucy looked at them all for a second with an innocent look on her face, "I was hoping if maybe we could play hide and seek? Come on Peter, it will be fun! Out here it's massive, there are loads of hiding spots to hide in, and it will be much more fun, please can we?"

Peter looked at the others' faces, and then back at Lucy, he smiled, "Okay, but Caspian's going to count" he looked at Caspian hoping he'd say yes.

He had a blank face on, "What's 'Hide and Seek'"? Everyone was silent. Edmund spoke up, "You mean, you don't know what 'Hide and Seek' is?" This made Caspian feel quite dumb

"Well, I've never heard of it before" he said with his voice heavily accented. Luckily Susan came to his rescue "Come on guys, you know that there was no such thing as 'Hide and Seek' in Narnia, obviously he wouldn't know what it is"

Peter and Edmund looked at each other in understanding. "'Hide and Seek' is basically where one person counts to 100 and the others try to hide, and then when you finish counting, you have to find where the others are hiding, the first person you find is the loser and the last person you find is the winner, the first person you find is the one who has to count next, do you get it?" Lucy explained, and Caspian nodded "yes that makes perfect sense…but where should I count?" he looked around.

Edmund stood up and so did the others, "Just count there, where that rock is", Edmund pointed to a big rock which could easily be mistaken for a wall. Caspian ran towards it, and started counting, "1…2…3…4…"

The others ran in different directions. Edmund didn't know where to hide, there were so many hiding spots to choose from out here in the open. He thought of an idea, perhaps he would be the last one to find if he went more into the woods and hid behind a massive tree.

So he ran towards an area where there were lots of trees, there were so many to choose from, he looked for a big tree in which he could hide in. He could faintly hear Caspian counting, "74…75…76.."

At last, he found a tree in which he could hide in. He waited. While he was hiding, he looked at his surroundings; he knew he was in a forest, not far from Cair Paravel actually, he could see it when he was in his balcony in his bed chambers. He admired the way the trees looked, he wasn't really a nature person but he did find nature beautiful.

He wiped a lock of black hair away from his eyes and waited. '_Aslan Caspian can be so slow when it comes to counting'_, he thought to himself.

He waited for what seemed like hours.

He suddenly heard rustling coming from somewhere on his right, he quickly span round to see the source of the noise. It grew louder. Edmund quickly reached for his dagger, he and Peter left their swords in Cair because they wanted to feel spend some time as a family and they didn't want to make them feel worried by wearing their swords all the time.

Of course Edmund protested, after all, you'd never know what kinds of things could happen. He bit back curses at Peter for making him leave his sword behind, he only had a dagger to protect himself thanks to him.

He narrowed his eyes and spoke proudly "Who's there!"

No reply.

"Okay Caspian, you can come out now, this isn't funny!" Edmund said with a tinge of worry. Who could be making these obvious rustling sounds? At this time of day?

Suddenly, a black leopard came into view with a roar. This made Edmund jump. He held his dagger in front of him, shaking slightly. He definitely did not feel safe without his sword; he couldn't use a dagger properly since it was so tiny and light in weight.

"Well if it isn't _King_ Edmund, the _Just_" the leopard spoke the word "king" with pure venom, as he did when he said "Just".

Edmund felt anger boil up inside him, he wished that Caspian would find him already; he knew that crying out for help will be useless. "What do you want from me" Edmund spoke, hiding his obvious fear and narrowing his eyes more at the beast.

The beast chuckled with evil, and he started pacing ever so slowly as he spoke "I am here to avenge my king's death! The real King Miraz!" He spoke the last sentence loudly so Edmund heard him clear.

"Miraz was never a king to begin with!" Edmund shouted with anger, how dare he question his status and then call someone who obviously wasn't a king, a king!

The leopard growled "You _Narnians_ killed our king! And now this is revenge"

It all happened too fast for Edmund, he found himself lying flat on his back with a leopard on top of him. He tried stabbing the leopard with a dagger but the leopard grabbed hold of it and threw it a good distance.

'_Great'_ Edmund thought, _'if I survive this, the first thing I'll do is make Lucy teach me how to use a dagger'_

"Now,_ King_ Edmund the _Just" _ The Leopard said mockingly, this made Edmund raise his anger, "Aslan will always be here for me" Edmund growled at the beast with anger.

The leopard raised his paw and scratched Edmund in the arm painfully, he gave out a yelp, blood already gushing out, luckily, it wasn't too deep. Edmund grimaced in pain and scrunched his face up from the pain he was experiencing.

The leopard, growled in his face and was about to scratch him again harder this time. Edmund waited for another pain to come, he scrunched his face up again, not opening his eyes.

But it never came. He heard the leopard howl and he felt light weight as the leopard wasn't on top of him any more.

He saw that the leopard was kicked painfully on the stomach by some one.

The leopard got up again, and looked at the person who kicked him, Edmund turned to look at the person who saved his life, but he didn't know who it was.

It was a person with armour and a helmet on. _Probably a brave warrior _Edmund thought. He felt so relieved that he was saved. He quickly clutched at his bleeding arm.

The person in the armour held out a sword in front of the leopard and slashed the leopard on the back; the leopard gave a cry of pain. The person in the armour held the sword out bravely and stepped forward, this made the leopard step back.

Caspian, Peter, Susan and Lucy came when they heard the noises. Susan and Peter helped Edmund to stand while Lucy was holding on to Caspian in fright as they saw a big evil leopard in their midst.

Susan checked Edmund all over and gasped at Edmunds' scratches, and Peter saw it too. He felt angry at the leopard for hurting his brother. But Edmund didn't take his eyes off the person in the armour who was still holding out it's sword towards the leopard almost challenging it to come closer.

Peter saw his brothers face and looked at the direction he was looking at. He also saw the person in the armour and knew instantly that he saved his life. Caspian, Susan and Lucy were also looking at the person in the armour and were wondering what was going to happen next.

The leopard was whimpering in pain and Edmund could have sworn that the beast was actually scared.

Even though he had a big scratch in his arm, he wasn't in that much pain as he had been in numerous battles in the past and has experienced far worse.

While the scene was being played out before them, Lucy gave Edmund a drop of her cordial and he instantly felt better.

"Thanks Lu" Edmund said gratefully, Peter patted his arm. "Who's he Edmund?" Susan asked referring to the person in the armour who was still holding it's sword out ready to swipe at the leopard,

Edmund continued looking "I'm not sure Su, but remind me to tell Peter to reward this brave man for risking his life for me", they all stared at the leopard and the person in the armour.

The person in the armour took a step forward and the leopard gave a cry of fear and quickly ran away. The person in the armour lowered his sword, and sheathed it and quickly turned to leave.

"Wait!" Edmund shouted, the person in the armour stopped and stood there. "Please, show yourself, you saved my life, I need to know who you are" Edmund said, almost pleading.

The person in the armour just stood there for a while "Please" This time, it was Lucy who was pleading.

The person stood there and finally turned to face them. Edmund took a step forward towards the person and asked with pure fascination, "Who are you? It was very brave of you to have saved me, thank you, please show us who you are brave man"

The person in the armour just stood there, taken aback. Then with what seemed like ages, the person held its arms up to its helmet and slowly took it off.

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**HAHAHAHA I'm so evil, I left it at a cliffy mwahahahaa! **

**By the way, I'm sorry if this chapter seemed a bit rushed, I just wanted to get to the part where they meet which is surely in the next chapter. I promise it will get better. But I am pleased of how this chapter turned out yay !**

**Please please pretty please review, even if it's just 'nice' **


	3. V1: Eyes that hold experience

**Yes chapter 3 is here! This is where it gets exciting so I hope you enjoy this and don't forget to review, I know I keep saying this but reviews make me happy so tell me what you think =)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Chronicles of Narnia; the credit goes to C.S. Lewis.**

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The helmet was now fully off. Almost all of them gasped when they saw who was under the helmet. Edmund's eyes went wide and all of them didn't realize that their mouths were hung open.

It was a girl. Yes, it was Eris. She swished her hair out of her face and looked at the small crowd before her. They all gaped at her.

"Oh my, it's a girl!" Lucy whispered to Susan which everyone heard. Lucy wasn't the best at whispering. Eris wanted to burst out laughing, she had a habit of laughing at silent moments, but she managed to keep a straight face.

"For a girl, you sure fight well" Edmund said after a moment of silence. However, this made Eris angry, who cares if she was a girl, didn't girls have as much rights as boys?

Edmund was the one who was most shocked, he was saved…by a girl? This impressed him a lot, and he couldn't seem to take his eyes off her, he had never seen a girl like her before. Black wavy hair that was midway down her back, bright light brown eyes that showed experience and her bravery. He had never seen a girl work her sword like that, let alone hold a weapon!

He was very fascinated by her as did the others as well.

The girl had a questioned look on her face. "So what if I'm a girl, that doesn't mean I can't hold a weapon as much as a guy does", the one thing that Eris hated the most is when people stereotype girls, after all, they have a right too you know.

Edmund looked taken aback for a moment, he never expected the girl to answer him in that fashion. Maybe she doesn't know that they are the kings and queens of Narnia.

"If you don't mind us asking" Susan said carefully, "Who are you?" she looked at the strange girl with interest. Who could she be? And how can she handle a weapon so effectively?

Eris sheathed her sword more firmly this time, "My name is Eris", she said, "And who are you? I say, you all do look quite familiar but I can't quite tell" she narrowed her eyes a little bit trying to register who these people were.

They all bit back a smile, she clearly didn't know who they were. "We're the kings and queens of Narnia" Peter said without hesitation. It was obvious to Edmund that this girl had no clue of the kings and queens, "You mean to tell me that you are the chosen ones by Aslan?" Eris said with disbelief.

She narrowed her eyes, "I don't believe you, prove to me that you're really the kings and queens" she said challenging them. Peter stepped forward with his hand out ready to shake her hand, "King Peter, the Magnificent", the others started to giggle, he turned back to them "what?"

"I think you should have left the last part out Peter" Susan said, Eris couldn't help but smile at that. Edmund looked at her "I'm Edmund, this is Susan and Lucy and this is Prince Caspian", she looked at all of them, this can't be real. She was actually standing before the kings and queens of Narnia, although she didn't know who this Prince Caspian was, but she didn't care.

"I want to thank you again for saving my life Lady Eris" Edmund said formally. Eris was quite surprised, she has never been called 'Lady' nor has she been spoken to with manner, all her life people have called her names like 'half breed' and some avoid talking to her because she was different.

"Please, just call me Eris, I do not deserve such title your majesty" this surprised the others, Edmund felt sorry for her; it was obvious that she hasn't been treated with manner her life. "I doubt that" Edmund said quietly but loud enough for Eris to hear.

This boy was enthralling. She took more notice of him this time. He had dark ebony hair similar to hers but with dark chocolate brown eyes that held many things…it was sort of captivating; she had never seen such a boy in her life. It was engaging. Eris looked past the others and looked towards a big castle that looked really inviting. "Might I ask, is that where you all live?" she pointed towards the source she'd been looking at.

They looked at where she was pointing, "Yes! That's Cair Paravel! It's where we all stay" Lucy said with enthusiasm being a hyper girl she already is.

Edmund looked at Eris; she had a look of pure interest. "Do you want to visit the Cair? It's really massive I'm sure you'll like it" Lucy said, she turned and looked at the doubt in Peter and Susan's' faces, "Come on, it's not like she's going to kill us all, she saved Edmund's life, she could have just run and let him be attacked but she didn't" Eris was already taking a liking to her, she seemed trusting and she seemed like she understood.

After some thought, Edmund turned to face her, "Well? What do you say?" Eris thought for a moment. But she couldn't believe it, it all came too soon! Only a few days ago, she found Finns' mother after he was lost and now she is here. "Yes, that would be exciting, lets go" Eris said already ready to take off. Edmund smiled to himself. Susan was next to Caspian as always just chatting about things only they knew about. Lucy was talking to Peter about all the things they can do when they get back to the Cair.

Edmund had so many questions to ask this girl. She was wearing armour, really skilled with weapons, and is fiercely brave, and that is something most people lack, even himself sometimes.

Eris was looking around her surroundings as if she'd never seen them before, they were in the beach and she stopped to look at the oceans, it was so beautiful. Edmund stood there watching the ocean just like Eris was, "I love the ocean" she said with passion, "it's too bad I can't swim", Edmund looked at her in disbelief; "you can't swim?" Eris shook her head slowly.

By now, Peter, Caspian, Susan and Lucy were well ahead of them, in fact, they were inside of Cair Paravel now. Eris continued watching the ocean but quickly turned to see the others gone, "I must have been admiring the ocean too long, sorry, I've never seen a view so beautiful"

Edmund shrugged it off and they both walked and reached the Cair. Eris stopped to look at how big it looked face to face, and then she stepped inside.

Edmund waited for her and they both walked up the stairs. When they made it to the third story, Edmund turned, "do you have any spare clothes to wear? You must be feeling quite uncomfortable with the armour and all"

Eris agreed but shook her head, "No, I don't, I used to but it was stolen recently, so.." she looked down at her armour, and then back up to Edmund, Edmund seemed to be thinking, then he had an idea. He walked over to Susan's bed chambers and knocked.

She opened the door to see Edmund, with Eris not far behind. Edmund whispered something into Susan's ear and she nodded.

Edmund went back to his bed chambers and Susan grabbed Eris's arm and dragged her inside. Once she was in, Susan closed the door and looked Eris up and down.

"Hmmm, looks like you need something more comfortable to wear, how about some of my clothes?" that was a rhetorical question of course because Susan was already in her wardrobe trying to pick out a dress for Eris to wear.

Eris was dreading the fact that she had to wear a dress, "Um, do I have to wear a dress your majesty?" she asked uneasy. Susan turned around to look at her as if she asked the most stupidest question in the world.

"Of course you do, that's what's expected for girls, and plus, I think you will suit a dress" this obviously made Eris angry, "just because we're girls doesn't mean we HAVE to wear dresses you know" she said.

Susan was quite surprised, "Well, I've only got dresses on me, sorry" she proceeded in looking for a dress. While she was doing that, Eris was looking around the room; she couldn't believe how big her bed chambers were. Back when her family was alive, her house was just a hut but this was unbelievable and what shocked her the most was that there was a bathroom inside her bedchambers, she figured that every body's' rooms were like that too.

Her bed was a king sized bed, it was absolutely huge! She also noticed a fireplace with an armchair and a shelf of books. "You like reading" Eris blurted out not realizing she did so,

Susan turned around and looked at the book shelf that Eris was staring at "Yeah, reading keeps my mind away from things, I love reading books on Narnian history, they're all very interesting" Eris had to agree, she loved reading also but never got the time to read.

"Ah here we go" Susan said finally after minutes of searching, "I think this colour will best fit you" she showed it to Eris and she couldn't help but stare at the dress. It wasn't really the dress that caught her attention, it was the colour. "What colour is that?" Eris said

"Turquoise" Susan said after handing the dress to her. Susan picked up a book that was lying on her bedside table and read. Eris didn't hesitate in getting changed. She stripped off her armour and everything else she was wearing and took the dress, she looked at the dress trying to find some sort of way to put it on

"Here, let me help" Susan offered walking towards her and helping her dress. She suddenly gasped at a long scar that was shown on her bare back. Eris saw the look, "It's okay, it doesn't hurt anymore" she reassured,

"What happened?" Susan asked with worry.

"Werewolf "Eris said, and Susan nodded completely understanding "I remember that day, I was 13 when it happened and a naiad helped with the wound until I regained my consciousness, the pain was unbearable" she said distantly.

Susan put a hand on her shoulder, "I'm sorry for what you've been through" Eris nodded and smiled, maybe she liked this Susan girl after all, she was beautiful and lady-like.

Eris didn't mind being in her bra and knickers in front of Queen Susan the Gentle, she didn't feel embarrassed either, although she didn't know why, maybe it was because when she was in Archenland, many of the girls weren't hesitant either when it came to changing or being naked in front of each other so she'd grown used to it.

Susan was a bit surprised when Eris was in nothing but her knickers and a bra, especially in front of her, she thought she would request to change in another room but she stripped off in the spot she was when she came in. This made her feel glad because it meant she was trusted. She did point out that Eris was relatively thin and pale. She did have the curves though, like Susan herself but overall she had a nice body. Not that she was looking her up of course; Susan had Caspian so she wouldn't dream of looking at another person.

She took the bottom of the dress and put it over Eris's head, once it was on her, Eris flicked her hair out so it was all out of the dress and not under it. "I want to see it, in a mirror I mean" Eris said looking at Susan hopefully

Susan took her to stand in front of a large mirror. Eris took one look at herself, she looked really different. She would see other girls wearing dresses but never would she imagine herself wearing a dress.

The sleeves were medium in length, and it was long, covering her feet like any narnian dress. It had a nice fabric belt which was the same material as the dress itself. It was tied in a neat bow at the side of her hip and it was a 'V' neck with patterns outlining it.

It wasn't one of those puffy dresses though, which to Eris's relief since she hated those.

"I look different" Eris said looking at herself. Her black hair stood out since the turquoise colour was really light and her curves were more noticeable.

"I think you look beautiful" Susan said truthfully and Eris smiled.

"Thank you, this is really nice" Eris said gratefully.

"You can keep it" Susan said, and Eris looked at her with wide eyes, "Really?" Eris said, was she really giving her a dress? With no payment?

Susan nodded and smiled at the expression on Eris's face. "Oh thank you, your majes-"

"Call me Susan" Susan interrupted "We are friends, I don't want you treating me like a queen, I want you treating me like a friend"

Eris couldn't believe what she was hearing but nodded anyway. "Thank you, and I will" Eris smiled and left the room and closed the door with a click.

Edmund had been waiting outside the room for ages waiting for Eris. He was really interested by her and wanted to ask where she was from. At last the door opened and Edmund looked up; his eyes went wide and was captivated by the transformation. Instead of armour, she was wearing the dress Susan wore for Christmas. The turquoise dress he'd only seen Susan wear once. It was the first time that he'd taken proper notice of her, her dark wavy curls seemed even darker for some reason, her slim figure was also noticeable and he saw that she was quite pale as well.

"Your majesty?" Eris asked, that seemed to snap the boy awake. He walked closer to Eris "Sorry, I was just thinking" he said, blushing faintly and turned towards his bed chamber, Eris followed.

When they were inside, Eris couldn't help but look around, his room seemed quite bigger than Susan's, his bed was a king sized bed and he also had a bathroom in his bed chamber just as Eris predicted. "This is all yours?" Eris asked disbelieving yet again

"Yeah" Edmund said, trying not to seem spoiled. Eris walked around looking at each piece of furniture and feeling them.

Edmund couldn't help but stare; there was something about her that he just wanted to look at her all day. But who was she?

"Um, might I ask… where are you from?" Eris looked up while Edmund sat on the edge of his bed and tapped a place next to him as a way of giving permission for her to sit down next to him, and she did so.

"Well, I don't know" Edmund was confused, and she continued, "I'm not from anywhere, I'm what they call a half breed" she was looking into the fire which was lit before them, "My dad was from Archenland and my mother was a narnian"

This caught Edmund's attention, "so you're half Archenland and half Narnian?" Eris nodded.

"And where do you live?" Edmund had been wondering this since earlier on, Eris was hoping he wouldn't ask that, "I don't live anywhere, I don't have a home, my parents were killed by Telmarines when I was 5, I still remember that day vividly, I was so scared and I hid behind a rock where no one could find me, my parents lay there bloodied and lifeless and there was nothing I could do, I was so helpless and lost, I didn't know what to do, I cried for weeks and kept myself alive, I was so young, and since then on, I've been trying to keep myself alive, I would teach myself sword practice every day and would protect myself from dangers. But the images still haunt me every time. I just miss my mother and father, I only had 5 years of love from my family, and since then, I was alone, I go through times where I just feel so lost, I've even forgotten what it is like to be loved…"

Eris didn't realize that she was silently crying, she felt strong arms hugging her, reassuring her, and she couldn't help but cry harder,

"I'm sorry" she heard Edmund's ruffled voice over her shoulder. After a while she pulled back wiping her tears, "Ugh look at me, crying like a wimp, sorry about that your majesty"

"My name's Edmund, just call me by my name" Eris didn't expect that, she thought that it was Susan that only told her to call her by her real name, perhaps it just ran through the family.

"Why don't you sleep here in Cair Paravel? Seeing as you have no other place to sleep" Edmund offered, Eris couldn't believe this, "What? Are you serious? I can't! That's too much, first the dress and now this? That's too much to ask for, I'm sorry, I should never have come"

"No we are honored to have you in Cair, this place is huge, we have many spare bed chambers for you to have and plus, you saved my life, this is my way of saying thanks, you can stay here in Cair with us" Eris had to think about it for a moment.

Would she turn down the offer and go back to sleeping on the ground with danger lurking at every corner? Or here where it was safe and warm….

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**So what did you think? Please post a review, it will be much appreciated.**

**Please can you let me know if I've put Edmund and Susan in character? Let me know because I don't mind receiving constructive criticism, I want this to be a story everyone will enjoy.**

**don't forget to revieeeeeeeewww =) Chapter 4 is coming soon woooooooh!**


	4. V1: Homecoming

**Chapter 4 is finally here :D and thank you guys for reviewing! Seriously it means a lot. I just wanted to let you guys know that you'll be seeing more action in this story now because we are nearing the plot, this shall be fun so please enjoy this**

**Also, Eris's clothing is similar to what Lucy was wearing in the movie: The Dawn Treader.**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Chronicles of Narnia, credit goes to the wonderful C.S. Lewis**

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It has been a month now with Eris being a new addition to Cair Paravel, after Caspian of course. In the same month, Peter was called off to the North to discuss some issues with Queen Janet, or also known as Queen Janet of The North. She ruled the North of Narnia and she was a fairly middle aged woman nearing her olden years but still fit and well looking for her age. There have been beastly rumors about her and many fear her because of the amount of gossip spreading. Her husband, King Syrobi, had died of old age but many say she murdered him, but no one can say if these rumors are true.

Caspian had suggested he'd go with Peter, and after hours of persuading, Peter finally allowed Caspian to go. Eris had seen the way Susan and Caspian said their farewell, she was quit far away but still close enough to see, it was quite emotional and she couldn't stop staring at the two, it was so obvious they were in love

When they kissed, it was passionate and Eris couldn't help but put her fingers on her own lips wondering what it would feel like to have someone's lips on their own. She'd never been kissed before and she'd seen people do it, but Susan and Caspian's love was different. It was pure and true love, something very sweet.

She'd seen the way Susan watched her love mount on his horse and start his journey along with Peter to the North. When they were out of sight, Susan wiped a tear away from her cheek and ran into the Cair and up to her chambers crying.

Eris quickly ran to Susan's chamber and soothed her until she fell asleep. It felt good to make someone feel better. She put her on her bed; covered her with a blanket and said goodnight to her even though she couldn't hear her.

Now it had been a month since Eris's stay, she couldn't believe it went so quick already. Peter and Caspian had been gone for 2 weeks now and they said the whole thing would take a week, they sent a gryphon to send a message to Cair Paravel saying that their stay would be extended.

This obviously didn't make things better for Susan, she missed Caspian greatly and hoped him to be home as soon as possible. She wanted Peter home as well, as he is her brother; she was worried for the both of them. Lucy tried to reassure her nothing would happen and so did Edmund and Eris.

Now it was a little after mid-night and Eris was standing in the balcony with a white shirt, which she wore under her tunic, and plain black pyjama pants. Ever since her first day at Cair Paravel, she didn't want to wear dresses, she loathed them. She did however, keep the turquois dress that Susan gave her, she would never throw it away because it was the first gift she had ever been given.

She was captivated by the landscape before her, it was so beautiful. The ocean shimmered in the night and the land itself was truly wonderful.

She loved going into her balcony at night, she loved the scenery, it would take her to a place where worries never existed.

Suddenly, there came a noise. Eris stopped for a second, trying to see if she actually heard something or imagined it.

She hadn't imagined it because the noise came again. It sounded like a howl, like someone was getting attacked or in pain. She stood up and walked inside of her room and she heard the noise again

"No! No please don't! Please, I thought you forgave me!" Eris paused, that sounded like Edmund. She heard Edmund scream at night like that before, but Peter was always there to calm him. She never knew what all the fuss was about, but all she knew was Peter was always there.

Except now.

Then it hit her, Peter was away. Susan and Lucy's room was far away so they wouldn't be able to hear him. Eris's room was next to Edmunds' room so she could hear him clearly.

She ran to get her blue robe, quickly put it on and ran out towards Edmunds' room.

She didn't even bother knocking, she knew he was having nightmares so she had no choice. She turned the handle and ran in. Edmund was thrashing in his bed, a deep frown in his features and his eyes were shut tight.

Eris felt sorry for him that he was going through this, but she wasted no time in getting next to him. At first she was confused, how did Peter do it? How did he manage to calm Edmund?

She stood over him and shook his shoulders, "Edmund wake up! You're dreaming it isn't real" Edmund continued to shout. She sat down on his bed next to him and shook his shoulders more violently, "Edmund you've got to wake up, you're dreaming, wake up" she said more demandingly. "Ed!"

When she said that, his eyes shot open, breathing fast and looking up at the ceiling with wide eyes as if he'd just seen a ghost. For a moment Eris felt terrified but quickly shook it off and replaced it with relief seeing as Edmund is now awake and calm…well, sort of.

Edmund looked over to the figure who had awoken him from the scary torture, surely it can't be Peter seeing as he was away sorting things out. He saw a dark figure which made him terrified. He instantly sat up, knocking his head with Eris's head.

"Ow" they both said at the same time. Edmund thought it was strange, the voice sounded like a girl. He looked over to the figure and saw that it was Eris. She had her hand on her head where they both got in contact due to Edmunds' sudden jolt.

He widened his eyes only registering what just happened, "Oh I'm so sorry Eris, I- I didn't mean to-"

"It's okay, there's no need to apologize" Eris said calmly "Are you okay? You were shouting and screaming"

Edmund felt embarrassed, he now looked like a wimp, she's going to think he's a loser who can't do anything for himself. _Wait, why do I care anyway? _Edmund thought to himself, over the past month he'd been careful when it came to Eris, he wanted to seem like a good King and a brave person, he's never done this with anyone else, not even Peter!

"I-I'm fine, I'm sorry to have awoken you, I can't really control my nightmares you see" Edmund felt so low right now.

Eris giggled. _Why am I giggling? I never giggle! _Eris thought, she found it strange how she is more open with Edmund. Even though she had been close to Susan, she was also close with Edmund; they had a lot in common actually which made their friendship stronger. She was also good to Lucy, whenever she was upset about something, she would try and find a way to cheer her up, she was really loyal to her. As for Peter, he hardly talks with her, sometimes she feels like he hates him, when in actual fact, he's caught up in his kingly business but otherwise, he's like an older brother to Eris.

Edmund blushed at Eris's quite laugh. But felt more embarrassed than before. He feels as if there is something he should tell her but he doesn't know what it is which made him frustrated.

He sat up at the edge of his bed so both of his feet were dangling down from the bed and sighed.

"What's wrong?" Eris asked him with deep concern; she closed her robe more firmly around herself. Edmund looked down, "I just feel like a coward sometimes" his voice was low and sad, the next minute he felt a hand on his shoulder

"It's okay to be scared" Was all Eris said. For some reason, those words meant something to Edmund, everyone gets scared, it's part of life, why fear of fear?

Eris withdrew her hand from his shoulder, "Maybe you should sleep again, tomorrow is-" But Edmund looked at her, straight in the eyes and that made Eris stop talking

"I can't sleep! Peter isn't here and I don't know what to do! I always get these nightmares of the White Witch and Peter's not here to calm me! I woke you up for Aslan's sake! I feel awful for waking you! And why do I have to rely on Peter anyway? One day, I'm gonna have to be without him and Peter won't be here to calm me, I shouldn't rely on him so much! Maybe the Witch is right, maybe I am stupid, and a traitor and a mindless brat and a worthless p-"

He stopped altogether as he felt warm lips on his own. His eyes went wide from shock and just as he kisses her back, she pulled away suddenly.

Her eyes widened as she realized what just happened. She moved further back with an apologetic expression

"I-I'm sorry, I- I didn't know what came over me, it was the only way to shut you up and to stop you from thinking so low of yourself, obviously everything you said wasn't true, but I- I don't know why I just did that, I feel guilty now, I never should ha-"

She soon felt Edmund's lips on her own and her eyes widen just the same as Edmund had done before. She felt light headed and Edmund pulled away. His expression soft and understanding

"Sorry, it was the only way to shut you up" and that was his excuse. He smiled at her, and soon he realized that the feeling inside, was all for this, and now he realized, that he had feelings for her. He felt complete now which widened his smile.

Eris smiled at him back after a few seconds. There was something different about tonight, and it was then she realized that she just had her first kiss, the way his lips moulded into hers felt like fireworks. She had butterflies in her stomach. After all those days watching Susan and Caspian kiss, she finally knew what it was like and she felt whole now. She felt happier than before.

"Come" Edmund stood up and walked over to his balcony and Eris followed. The feeling of cool breeze hitting his skin was awesome. He looked out at the scenery and so was Eris, her hair flowing backwards due to the sudden small wind.

"I always look out from the balcony at night, this place is beautiful" Eris said quietly as if she was somehow daydreaming. Edmund nodded slightly "It is, I love it here, I also like to ride my horse at night too"

Eris laughed quietly, "And does Philip mind?" She said amusingly. Edmund smiled and shook his head, "No, course not, he loves it too actually"

Eris laughed quietly again, "yeah right, you probably force him to go and give him the 'I'm your king, do as I say' excuse" she was openly laughing now and Edmund smiled and pretended to be innocent "Me? Do that? Oh heavens no, I would never do such thing!"

They both laughed for a while. Eris looked at Edmund, the sweat on his forehead from earlier was still visible from his nightmare, she seemed concerned,

"Are you sure you're alright Edmund? About earlier" Edmund looked at her to see a concerned expression similar to Peter's

"I'm fine, honestly!" Edmund said, he had to admit, he still was a bit scared but he was good at not showing it. Eris raised an eye brow up "Wow, you sure do recover quickly" she looked back at the view before her while Edmund thought. He actually did feel better now with Eris at his company.

Eris wanted to feel it again. To feel those plump lips against hers, she loved the feeling of it and wanted to feel it again. But how was she going to ask him without sounding weird? She was going to have to do it anyway. So she slowly turned to face Edmund.

Edmund looked at her and Eris began "um, Edmund, can I…can we…um…" She began stuttering, this wasn't going well until at last she said it, "Can we do that again?"

Edmund smiled, instantly knowing what she meant, he slowly leaned forward, they both tilted their heads opposite ways. Eris closed her eyes and relished the moment of those sweet lips. The kiss was passionate and sweet and to both of them, it seemed to last forever and they liked it like that.

Edmund knew that Eris had no experience in this because he didn't either. They pulled apart slowly catching their breath. Eris looked at Edmund and smiled.

Edmund had never seen such a beautiful smile, he put his hand to her cheek "From now on, you don't have to ask me for a kiss because now I'm yours and you are mine" Eris's cheeks flushed red, this can't be real, Edmund is hers and the moment is so sweet, it's like one of those fairy tale stories!

Edmund smiled at the expression on her face, he found it so cute and he couldn't have asked for a better moment. He was somehow glad that he had screamed and shouted, if he hadn't, Eris wouldn't have come and they wouldn't have had this moment.

"I love you" Eris said, she didn't care if she said that, he would know anyway, and she felt glad. Edmund was taken by surprize, he felt electric bolts swirling in his stomach. He looked into her eyes and said the four words that Eris wanted to hear "I love you too"

They both kissed again, this time it lasted longer. This was definitely a night to remember.

They pulled apart and smiled, knowing their feelings for each other, it felt amazing. Eris now knew what it was like for Susan, having Caspian and their love. It was a special feeling.

Edmund shivered "It's getting cold, lets go back inside" Eris nodded and went to follow him back inside when a gryphon came into their sight

"Your majesty, your majesty!" The gryphon called out excitedly. He landed on the rail of the balcony and bowed.

"Yes Sybil? Any news on Peter?" Edmund asked a bit eagerly. Eris found it funny how he was only interested in his brother and not Caspian.

"Yes your majesty that is why I came! Your brother and Prince Caspian are returning tomorrow morning, isn't that wonderful?" The gryphon replied happily. Edmunds' eyes grew wide with disbelief; she could tell how happy Edmund was about this, 2 weeks without his brother!

"That's- that's amazing! Eris this is simply wonderful, Peter's returning!" Eris beamed at the news, "That's wonderful Ed, it's been a long time" she was really happy about this because it was good to see Edmund so happy after a horrible nightmare.

"and that's not it your majesty" The gryphon continued, "There is going to be a big celebration to celebrate the home comings of High king Peter and Prince Caspian tomorrow, and not only that but they have also solved issues with Queen Janet of the North, this is simply great for us" Edmund was so thrilled that Eris could actually believe that his lips will rip out.

She put a hand on Edmunds upper arm, "This is great Ed! Peter's back and solved issues with the North, we shall all celebrate till we drop tomorrow" they both laughed at that.

The gryphon bowed, "Your majesty, I must take off now, we shall see you all tomorrow, farewell" Edmund and Eris waved Sybil good bye and went inside.

Edmund jumped back into his bed and Eris sat on the side, Edmund couldn't believe Peter was back tomorrow. Eris could tell by his expressions and laughed to herself.

"Not only have we got sword practice tomorrow, but there's also less chance of war starting in the North now that Peter's got everything under control!" Eris truly thought it was hers and Ed's lucky day. She couldn't have asked for better.

She leaned in again and kissed Edmund. Edmund kissed her back but more fiercely than usual, it was perfect I mean, it's not like Eris to make the first move. Edmund smiled into the kiss from the thought. It was perfect, he definitely wasn't scared anymore now that Eris is here with him, and he would see Pete again. Edmund, feeling quite aroused by Eris's action, slid his hand up her legs and then her thighs.

- _wait, what?_ Eris widened her eyes and pulled back realizing what Edmund wanted

"I'm sorry Edmund, I'm not ready" Eris said quietly, half whispering. Edmund understood.

"sorry, I shouldn't have rushed it" Edmund apologized and Eris smiled, "When the time is right" and with that she kissed him fast on the lips and stood up

"We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow, I'm going to sleep now, are you sure you'll be alright?" Edmund nodded "don't worry about me, have a good night"

"Good night Ed" and Eris walked over to the door and pushed it open, she looked back at Ed and she smiled at him before leaving.

_Tomorrows' going to be busy _she thought to herself and went back to her room with a smile on her face.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

It was early in the morning and Oreius decided to cancel sword practice so that they can celebrate the home comings of Peter and Caspian, this made Eris annoyed, as much as she was glad of Peter and Caspian's arrival, she was also looking forward to sword practice, she decided to let it go and quickly went to Susan's chambers where she and Lucy were doing each others' hair.

Lucy smiled at Eris, "Hi Eris, we're getting ready for the celebration today, this is going to be so exciting! Aren't you excited Su?" Su smiled to herself while she was concentrating on French braiding Lucy's hair, "Of course Lu, I get to see Peter again after so long" there was a gleam in Susan's eyes and Eris couldn't help but laugh as she sat down on Susan's armchair

"Maybe it's because of your adoring Caspian" she said while she and Lucy laughed. Susan pretended to be hurt but failed in hiding it as she smiled and blushed, she got the thing nearest to her which was her cushion and threw it at Eris

"Hey!" Eris said between laughter, "That hurt" she lied mockingly

"Yeah and sword fighting and crossing blades isn't" Susan remarked whole heartedly. Eris sunk further down on the armchair "…it isn't" she said matter-of-factly.

Susan finally finished doing Lucy's hair, "There we go, all done" she dragged Lucy in front of a mirror "Like it?"

Lucy couldn't help but gasp "I love it Su! I can't wait to see Peter, oh thank you" she hugged Susan and let go after a while. "I'm going to go and pick out what to wear for the celebration, you never know who will ask to dance with me" she said giggling while walking out of Susan's room.

Susan looked at Eris, she was reading one of her books and was deeply into it. Susan put her hands on her hips, "Aren't you going to get ready for the celebration?" Eris looked up

"Hmm?" she asked "Oh no I've got everything sorted already"

Susan sighed, "It would be great if you wore a nice celebration dress, I think dresses suit you" Eris made a disgusted face

"But Susan I hate dresses! Besides I know what you should wear" she said trying to change the subject in which she succeeded, "I think you suit the colour purple" Susan looked down at herself and back up at Eris "Purple? I think I have a purple dress in here somewhere…" she rummaged through her wardrobe for a couple of minutes and revealed a long dress which was long sleeved; it was layered and had bits of sparkle all over it. Eris thought it was beautiful.

"Yes. You are going to wear that without a doubt, in fact, lets switch roles, I'm the Queen and I demand you to wear that dress for the celebration, besides, you'll bring attention from Caspian" she winked at Susan who blushed and laughed to herself.

"Okay" she said before adding "your majesty", they both smiled.

"I think it's time I should get ready now, Peter and Caspian could arrive at Cair Paravel any minute" Eris stood up ready to leave "I'll see you in a bit" Eris called to her, and Susan smiled and nodded before Eris retreated into her chambers to get ready.

She came into her chambers and opened her wardrobe, _well since I don't have any other dresses to wear, I think it's time I wear my favourite_, she thought to herself. She pulled out a light red colored under shirt with a crimson colored tunic which was quite long (easily mistaken for a dress) so it can be close to a dress, and white leggings. Eris felt a bit queer wearing these formal Narnian clothing, even after a month she still hasn't gotten used to it, perhaps it takes time.

She finished changing into her clothes and neatened her hair in the mirror, not really caring about make up. There was a sudden knock to the door which made Eris jump; it was the voice of Lucy, "Eris? Have you finished changing? We're expected to be in front of the palace to await Peter and Caspian's return"

"Yes I'm finished now", she called before she quickly fastened her belt which had her sword and it's sheath on it and ran towards the door to see Lucy's smiling face, she looked at what she was wearing and stopped to look at the belt which held her sword, she frowned at the sight and sighed

"Eris, you know you don't need that" she said pointing at her sword, "It's a celebration"

Eris looked down at her sword and back up at Lucy and back at her sword, she sighed, "I can't just leave it Lucy, it's almost a part of me, I've had it with me ever since and it's never left my side"

She looked back at Lucy's face to see a sympathetic look "Oh Eris, I'm sorry, I didn't know it was that important to you, it's okay, you can keep it for the celebration"

"Are you sure the others won't mind?" Eris asked seeming worried, if they didn't, that means she would have to leave her sword and feel naked for the rest of the celebration. Lucy laughed to herself, "No of course they wouldn't, after all Peter, Caspian and Edmund have theirs with them all the time too" This made Eris feel relieved.

"Well, in that case, lets go, we have a king and a prince to await" Eris said in a mock graceful manner which made Lucy laugh, and to add to it, Eris offered Lucy her arm, which was what posh couples normally do, and Lucy accepted back with an amusing posh manner, but both failing as they both laughed on the way.

Lucy and Eris arrived just in time to hear the trumpets playing signalling the king and prince's arrival. Susan and Edmund were stood, dressed in their chosen clothing in front of the Cair, and Lucy and Eris walked quickly to stand by their side.

Eris stood next to Edmund and he looked at her with a smile and she smiled at him back remembering what occurred last night.

Eris looked at the others and she could tell that they were very excited to see them again, especially Susan since she had missed Caspian for a long time

Cheers erupted at the Cair as they were able to see their High King and Prince Caspian on their horses with a few of their body guards and Oreius with them, not far behind.

As soon as they reached nearby, Peter dismounted on his horse and Caspian did as well, not long after. The moment Peter's feet landed on the ground Lucy sprinted up to him and hugged him tightly which Peter hugged back just as tight, but not too much to hurt her. Susan walked up to Caspian with a smile but didn't hug or kiss him since they had a bit of an audience surrounding them

"Caspian, you don't know how long it's been, I've missed you so much" Susan said with a bit of gladness in her voice. Caspian smiled lovingly, "And you think I didn't? You were always in my mind Susan, and I'm just so glad to be back here again, with you and the others"

Susan didn't realize that she'd been blushing furiously, but smiled nonetheless and hugged him.

Edmund walked up to Peter. The blonde king looked at his brother with a smile, "Hey Ed"

The dark haired Pevensie smiled him "It's good to have you back Pete" he said, before crushing him in a tight embrace which Peter gladly did back.

Eris couldn't help but smile at the brothers, they were so close it was unbelievable, she often wondered what it was like to have a sibling, even though she did have a brother she was only 5 when he was killed which meant she could hardly remember the sibling love she had, but then again, she didn't have to, since Lucy and Susan already treated her as if they were already sisters.

Edmund pulled away scrunching up his nose, Peter chuckled, "I know, first thing I'm gonna do when I get back to my chambers is to take a nice hot bath" and Edmund nodded "Yeah I think that's a good idea" before the two of them laughed quietly to themselves.

Eris didn't know what to do, she looked like a lost mushroom which was quite embarrassing, so she walked towards Prince Caspian first, "It's great to see you back Cas, you look awfully tired" she said, and Susan couldn't help but agree, "She's right, it looks as if you hadn't slept for days"

Caspian paused, and looked as if he never realized, "I'm not sure, I think it was because I had to get up early for our journey back here, otherwise I _have_ been sleeping" he said defensively, mostly to Susan as she was more of the motherly type, which Caspian didn't mind at all, in fact he liked that in Susan.

Peter suddenly emerged with Lucy and Edmund. Susan and Eris craned around to look at him and Susan hugged Peter for a few seconds before pulling back "Peter I'm so happy you finally came, don't ever expand your journey like that again, it got me really upset"

Lucy had to laugh at that, "You have no idea, Susan was devastated at the news" Peter looked back at Susan with a surprised expression, "Really Su? I'm so sorry, I had to do it, the Queen was taking a long time to decide things so we had nothing else but to make our stay a few days longer"

Susan grinned, "Its okay Peter, what's done is done, as long as you're both back and safe I don't care" Peter smiled back at her, he was also glad he was back, he also missed his family back at the palace while he was away.

Peter looked at Eris, only just realizing that he forgot to greet her, "Eris" he said in a questioning/welcoming manner which Eris imitated back, "Peter" seeming disappointed, she definitely didn't expect it to be like that, she was hoping for a _'it's good to see you again' _or _'how have you been lately?' _she always had the feeling that Peter didn't really like her

On the other hand, Peter bit back curses to himself, he knew he sounded a bit harsh, but it was too late to turn back now, he was gonna have to make his speech.

Edmund saw the look of disappointment in Eris's face as they walked towards the palace, he couldn't help but frown a little to Peter.

"Peter, don't forget to make a speech, the Narnians are expecting it" Caspian whispered to Peter.

Peter suddenly realized that he was ought to make a speech for the Narnians for his welcoming back. So he walked quicker, going past the others and climbed the stairs; when he reached the top, he turned back at the big crowd before him. The others were stood right in front of the stairs, not having climbed them yet, but will do once Peter finished his speech.

He cleared his throat, "Narnians, I want to thank you all for welcoming both me and Prince Caspian into Cair Paravel again after our long travel, we really much appreciate it as we have had such a tiring journey all the way to the North to make agreements to the Queen, in which we have successfully taken care of. I would want to thank Oreius and the others for guiding us during our journey, as me and Prince Caspian had no clue as to where we were going" at this, the Narnian crowd laughed, even the siblings and Eris. Prince Caspian was just smiling to himself at the memory. "And we would want to celebrate this occasion for the successful agreement with the Queen of the North, for this was something that wasn't easy to take care of but nonetheless, we have succeeded and it is with great pleasure to announce that Cair Paravel will be holding a great celebration. We all hope you can come, thank you all, may the lion be with you"

He sighed, feeling glad it was over. He really despised speeches, but he was good at improvising which was what he just did. The others caught up to him, Caspian put his arm around him in a way of saying _'good job!'_

When they arrived at the coronation hall, the others gasped, they hadn't seen the decorations until now. The main colour was gold and blue and there were random balloons around the walls. Eris had never seen anything like it before. Soon, it was swarmed with Narnians, dancing Nyads, Fauns, centaurs, dryads and other Narnian creatures. Edmund always hated crowded areas but luckily, it wasn't that crowded, so it was okay for him.

The four monarchs walked gracefully up the stairs and sat on their thrones. The crowd all cheered and clapped for them, "All hail Queen Lucy the Valiant" They cheered and Eris soon joined in, since she really did mean it, "All hail King Edmund the Just! All hail Queen Susan the Gentle! All hail King Peter the Magnificent!" and they cheered again.

Soon the music began playing and Lucy and Susan sat up from their thrones and began dancing. Lucy was dancing with Faun Tumnus and Susan was dancing with Prince Caspian and laughing together. Eris really wanted to dance like that with Edmund; the thought just sends butterflies in her stomach. She looked at the thrones to see Edmund talking to Peter, and it seemed as if he said something funny because Peter laughed.

A Narnian guard came into the coronation and called out "High king Peter", the room went quiet and the music died down a bit, but it was still playing. Peter stood up as the guard called out to him, "Yes? Is there any problem?"

"No you majesty, I have come to tell you that Queen Janet and her son Prince Darreth have come to join us on our celebration", Peter and the others were puzzled, they didn't know that they would actually come. Eris was fascinated but had a bad feeling about it, even though she didn't know exactly why.

After a few murmurs and whispering from the crowd, Peter finally spoke, "She will be welcome"

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**Wow I think that this is my longest chapter yet! Well I hope it makes up for the few days that I didn't update so I hope you enjoyed this chapter**

**Chapter 5 will be coming soon, please please please review, I love hearing from you guys**


	5. V1: Forceful actions

**Chapter 5 :)**

**A/N: just to clear things up, I forgot to mention in the first chapter, I have made changes to this story from the beginning but I forgot to inform you guys about it. Firstly, this story is based on the Pevensie's second visit to Narnia (Prince Caspian version) however, in this version, Aslan had allowed the Pevensie's to stay longer in Narnia, which is why Cair Paravel had been rebuilt. I hope I made this clear to you and I hope it makes more sense. Please enjoy this chapter!**

**I also want to tell you guys that this isNOTgoing to be one of those stories where Darreth wants to marry Eris, it's gonna go on that line but I'm going to twist the plot certain ways; you have to read and find out because I don't want to spoil it. I have the story fully planned out now so I hope you like it so far. **

**Disclaimer: Don't own them, although I wish I had**

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A fairly aged woman had entered the ball room. She had a stern face on and she wore a huge puffy long dress – which Eris thought was hideous since she hated those kinds of dresses – which was a deep dark blue colour and her sleeves were light blue. She was quite a big chubby woman with a few wrinkles on her face and her hair was dark brown with a few strands of white hair, and it seemed quite long but tied tightly in a low bun. She had minimal jewellery as not many of her kind tend to wear them but she still did.

Eris had a weird feeling in her and she always got this feeling whenever something bad was going to happen but she shrug it off because why would something happen in a celebration?

Behind the woman was a tall boy, who was somewhere between Edmund and peters' age – older than Edmund but younger than Peter – he, like his mother, had brown hair but it was light in colour and it was short at the back but long at the front, but his fringe was relatively short, so in a way, it was still a bit short at the front. He had his hands behind his back while he walked. He wore a dark blue undershirt and light blue tunic which was not as long, it stopped up to his hips, and he wore brown pants and brown boots.

He had a smug look on his face as he walked behind his mother – a sort of big headed type of look – and Eris despised people who were big headed so she already knew that this boy would not be someone of her liking, not that she judged people… she just sort of knew.

The Queen stopped when she reached the bottom of the mini steps towards the thrones in which only Edmund and Peter were sat at since Lucy and Susan had gone off to dance. The boy walked to stand next to her with his hands still on his back.

"Welcome Queen Janet" The high king spoke with a smile on his face but if someone knew him really well, they would be able to tell that he also had a somewhat confused emotion on him too, "I must say, we didn't expect your arrival here, it must have been a long journey"

The woman scoffed a bit – not too loud for the on lookers to hear – "Please, it was not a long journey for me, we have our little group of people who carry us by a carriage, but we came here to celebrate too, surely you can't celebrate without us since it _is_ about our successful agreement"

Peter felt a bit embarrassed at that, surely he couldn't celebrate without the people whom he had signed a peace treaty with, "ah of course! We welcome you into our celebration, we hope you have fun, I do apologize for not letting you know, but now you and the prince are here, you can celebrate to your hearts content, Queen" He really hated speaking formally, it sounded weird in his ears but he knew he didn't have a choice.

Edmund, who was sat on his throne, was eyeing the Prince. He looked…weird, as he seemed serious like his mother next to him. He also didn't like this Queen Janet, it was awfully rude of her to just come into their celebration without invitation. But Edmund shrugged the feeling off, he always found himself instantly making judgments about people without actually getting to know them, who knows, maybe this Prince kid could be a good person.

Janet looked like she was about to laugh, "Please, my name is Queen Janet, I don't like to be addressed to as 'Queen', it makes me sound like a nobody" she looked at her son, "Have you met my son, Prince Darreth? I'm sure you would get along with him fine"

Peter looked at Darreth and nodded at him in a way of saying 'hello' but the Prince didn't do anything in return, he probably didn't see the nod.

"Well, what are we all waiting for? Let's all celebrate!" Janet said enthusiastically.

Soon, the music was playing again and everyone was minding their own business, dancing, drinking, laughing etc.

Edmund turned to Peter, "Wow. You had to speak to her for 2 weeks? Aslan, she sounds as if she has a nose block" Peter grinned, "I find it funny, do you know how hard it was for me and Caspian to not laugh while she spoke?" Edmund replied by playfully smacking his brother on the arm and they both laughed.

Eris was standing next to the drink stand drinking a traditional Narnian cocktail which she loved, she already had 3 cups so far and this was her fourth.

She had her drink in hand and stood staring at Lucy and a little toddler faun who looked exactly like Finn, but he had a darker shade of red hair so it couldn't be him. Then her gaze fixated on Susan and Caspian, she could easily see the love between them, it was shown in their eyes, especially Caspian – Eris knew he loved her and that she loved him just as much. Eris was desperate for a dance with Edmund but she knew that girls don't ask the guys, it was them that had to ask the girls.

She received a couple of stares from other girls around the room, Eris just ignored them, for she knew that they were staring at her because of the clothes she was wearing. She was the only girl not wearing a dress, but she couldn't care less. She occasionally got guys staring at her as well but she didn't notice.

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Darreth on the other hand was sat on a seat looking at the party before him. He didn't feel like talking to the kings, he didn't particularly like the one with the dark hair, he noticed how he rolled his eyes during when his mother was speaking.

He looked at Lucy dancing with a small faun, he thought her to be too young for a queen, and he saw Susan and Prince Caspian dancing, it was so obvious they were in love, he didn't blame Caspian though, he too, thought that Queen Susan was beautiful, as she was so gentle.

_Unfair_, he thought to himself, _I never get any girls; they are either too young or taken._

He proceeded in looking at the party before him when someone seem to have caught his eye. He looked at the person again and found that it was a girl. She wearing a woman's version of a tunic.

_Strange_, he thought to himself. The girl turned around to pour another drink for herself, this time, Darreth could see her face. His eyes widened. "Wow" he whispered to himself; he continued to study her features.

She had light brown eyes, like himself, and dark black hair that was in curly waves mid-way down her back. Her lips were naturally rouged and he couldn't help but look at her eye brows

"Well she can certainly get away with big eye brows" he said to himself. Her eyebrows were big and good in shape. He couldn't help but wonder where this girl was from. "Perhaps she is single" and with that he stood up and walked up to the girl.

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After pouring her fifth glass of cocktail, Eris turned and continued staring at Susan and Caspian. She somehow found it quite entertaining looking at the two of them. She heard someone clear his throat behind her but she ignored the sound, maybe the person was sick and wasn't intending to catch her attention.

She had been wrong because the person who had cleared his throat walked around her so that he was stood in front of her face to face. Eris's eyes widened as she recognized who it was. It was the Prince she saw earlier. Why was he here?

She could still see that smug look on his face, which she found kind of annoying, but shrugged it off as it may just be his face.

"Hello there" He said, Eris noted that his voice sounded nasally like his mother which made her a bit uncomfortable with the superior look on the Prince's face. She also realized how older he was than Edmund but maybe younger or even the same age as Peter.

"Hi. Enjoying the party?" Eris asked, she didn't know what else to say other than a simple 'hi', the boy looked around for a second and turned his face back to the girl,

"It's good, what's you name beautiful?" He asked without hesitation. Eris tensed, her eyes widened at him. Who was he to tell her that?

On the other side of the party, Edmund was still seated on his throne drinking. Peter had gone off to dance with a few of the Calormene girls who asked him for a dance. He scanned the party to look for Eris, maybe he could ask her for a dance, besides, they hardly talked today because of the distraction with Peter and Caspian's home coming.

He scanned and finally found her, his eyes narrowed when he saw Prince Darreth trying to chat up with her. He could tell he was failing because Eris had her eyes widened with disgust at the Prince but he didn't seem to notice as he continued talking to her.

Edmund decided to get up. Eris had some rescuing to have.

"My name is Eris", she said in a careless manner as she was pouring more cocktail for herself.

"Such a pretty name" Eris rolled her eyes; she also couldn't help but notice a foreign accent to his voice too. The prince added, "I am Prince Darre-"

"Yeah, I know" Eris said before trying to walk past him but failing as Darreth took a step back so he was still face to face with Eris. The girl looked at him with annoyance, "Are you gonna let me go past?"

Darreth noticed how she didn't address him with a 'your majesty' but didn't mind since she was already distracting for him.

"Not until I have this dance" he said in an almost demanding manner. Eris groaned, she really didn't want to dance with anyone except if it was Edmund.

"No, I'm sorry, I would not want to dance with y-OHH!" Eris shrieked as the Prince forcefully grabbed her hands and into the dance floor where Lucy and Susan were.

Lucy saw how Eris was being pulled by the prince and she couldn't help but giggle at her, Susan and Caspian saw this too and failed at trying to keep their laughter in. Edmund was making his way through the crowd in order to reach Eris, he was fuming that the Prince was practically man handling her.

The prince put his hand on her waist and his other hand holding her hand firmly and holding it in mid air beside them. Eris glared daggers at the boy

"How dare you, you certainly don't act regal for a prince if you force people into doing things" she said, half hissing. She already hated him.

The Prince tensed a little, _'you certainly don't act regal for a prince if you force people into doing things' _that sentence was ringing in his head, but he pushed it to the back of his mind. He found it strangely attractive when girls get angry, but she was different, she seemed much more defensive, but he shook it off.

"Now tell me gorgeous, where are you from?" He asked trying to be casual after what just happened, Eris frowned at him

"What makes you think I'll tell you about my life, I didn't want to dance with you in the first place and you practically dragged me here after saying no" she tried to pull off, but Darreth was holding her firmly. Eris felt anger raging her now, and she winced when Darreth accidently stepped on her foot.

"Oops, sorry gorgeous, I'm a bit inexperienced" he said. Eris's brows furrowed more, "stop calling me gorgeous" she said in anger.

Darreth had an amusing look on his face, "Sorry gorgeous, I can't help it when you're so gorgeous in my eyes" Eris felt like she wanted to burst, she was about to say something when she heard a voice from beside her

"When she says she doesn't want to dance, she doesn't want to dance", the voice was stern and demanding, and Eris felt relief wash over her as she saw that it was Edmund.

Eris sighed with relief and Edmund saw the look; he couldn't help but feel happy as he knew she was glad he came. Darreth felt angry because it seemed that Edmund was trying to take Eris away from him, he had no idea that they were together.

"I'm sorry, but I think it is highly rude of you to interrupt our dance" Darreth said in a-matter-of-factly voice. Eris rolled her eyes, still trying to get off his grip but failing.

Edmund pursed his lips, "Is that so? So you're telling me that forcing someone to dance with them even though they don't want to dance not highly rude? Please don't make me laugh Prince Darreth" Edmund said, obviously not happy with Darreth's actions.

"Actually, Erich _does_ want to dance with me, isn't that right gorgeous?" Darreth looked at Eris and she was fuming again, "My name is Eris! And stop calling me gorgeous"

Edmund saw Eris's struggle in trying to make the Prince let go, but Darreth was holding her firmly and that made him angry.

"Prince Darreth, as King Edmund the Just, I demand you to let go of Eris this instant" Edmund saw that Darreth still held firm so he tried plan B, "Hmm, well I suppose Queen Janet will be quite surprised when she hears about this"

At that, Darreth spun his head to face Edmund, "You wouldn't" He said in a doomed voice, and Edmund nodded slowly with a cheeky smile on his face. Eris laughed to herself as Darreth finally let go, her hands were sore from the forceful grip Darreth held her in so she started rubbing it so soothe it down a bit.

Darreth mumbled curses to Edmund and Eris and walked off the opposite direction. Eris looked at Edmund, "Thank Aslan you got him away, I was getting so annoyed by him" Eris complained.

"I know, it was obvious from the look in your face" Edmund grinned which made Eris smile "Oh come on, I'm not _that_ obvious" she defended.

Edmund nodded "You are" and he reached his hand out in front of her "Would you like a 'proper' dance this time?" Edmund offered. Eris was glad that he asked her this since she'd been waiting for him to ask her for a dance, she gladly took his hand "I'd love to. As long as you don't step on my foot numerous times like Darreth did…it still hurts you know" Edmund couldn't help but laugh, it was so funny when Eris complained.

"It's not funny!" but Eris couldn't help but grin herself, soon she started laughing with Edmund.

On the other side of the party, Darreth took a seat where he'd been sat before, he was muttering angrily to himself, "Stupid Edmund, who does he think he is taking Erich away from me! Stupid stupid ugly Minotaur, with his stupid stupid floppy head, that ugly piece of gryphon!" He clenched his hands until his knuckles went white.

He watched Eris dancing with Edmund. They seemed to be having a good time. This didn't help with Darreth's anger.

Eris's anger melted away. Instead of Darreth's tight gripped hand, she held Edmund's gentle ones and he seemed to know how to dance too, which made the atmosphere a whole lot better.

Edmund looked down at their feet; he saw how Eris just moved hers freely without moving it in rhythm.

"You don't dance do you" Edmund said, although it wasn't even a question, it was a statement. Eris blushed, now she knew why Edmund was staring at her feet. She couldn't dance; she'd never danced like this before.

"No, I've never danced before. I mean I have, but, not like this" Eris said, feeling her cheeks redden.

Edmund chuckled "its okay, I'll teach you, even though I'm not really much of a professional myself" Eris looked at Edmund at that, "Not much of a professional? Look at you, you're dancing fluently as if you're not even trying!" She said impressively.

Edmund laughed, "Yes, well I'm not as good as Peter you see" Eris nodded, "So how _do_ you dance?" she said looked down at their feet and trying to imitate how Edmund moved around.

Edmund grinned, "Okay, first you need to feel relaxed, don't tense up, or else that would make the dance seem robotic" Eris nodded, understanding. "This" Edmund continued, "is the most important part, you need to move your feet in rhythm of the music"

Eris looked confused, "How do you mean?" she asked. Edmund looked at her, "What I mean is that if the music is fast for example, you move your feet fast, but if the music is quite slow, like it is now, then you're expected to move your feet in rhythm with it slower. Does that make sense?"

Eris nodded. Edmund continued, "Now this is the tricky part, learning the steps" Eris was hoping it wouldn't be too hard. "Look down at our feet, and look at how I'm moving. When I move, you have to imitate after me" Eris nodded.

Edmund moved his right foot forward and Eris moved her left foot backwards. She looked up at Edmund hoping she did it was right "Like that?" Edmund smiled and nodded "Exactly like that, now lets keep going, you need to get a hang of this" Eris nodded and looked down again.

Edmund put his left foot forward, and Eris put her right foot backwards. Then they moved their position round. Edmund moved his right foot sideways to the right and Eris copied him but with her left foot.

After a few accident steps on Edmund's' foot and wincing, Eris finally seemed to get a hang of it. They moved around to the rhythm of the music and they spun around as well with Eris's right hand holding Edmund's left and Edmund's right hand on Eris's waist while Eris's left hand was placed on his shoulder.

"You're doing it!" Edmund said excitedly. Eris smiled, "Well what can I say, I'm a quick learner" she said in a mock boastful manner that made Edmund grin.

Not far behind them, Susan, Caspian, Lucy and Peter were standing together, watching the obvious love between Edmund and Eris. "Wow, I never thought Ed would fall in love with her, it's quite cute, now I can tease him all I want about it" Caspian said to them while watching Edmund teaching Eris how to dance.

"Oh I'm so happy for them, I knew Eris liked him from the start, it was so obvious" Lucy giggled next to Susan.

"I think it's endearing how he's teaching her how to dance even though Edmund isn't as good as Pete or Caspian" Susan said, receiving a smile from Caspian.

Peter agreed. A little dryad girl came over to Lucy and asked her for a fun little dance and Lucy happy accepted. Susan and Caspian went off to another dance, leaving Peter standing there with a drink. _Oh Ed_, Peter thought to himself, _when did you start having feelings? _With that he took another sip.

Edmund and Eris were now dancing in the middle of the ball occasionally spinning Eris around. After a few minutes they decided to stop and rest. After all they'd been dancing for almost an hour now.

"I'm gonna go and get us some drinks, just go and sit down over there" He pointed to an empty bench leaning on the wall, "and wait for me while I come back" Eris nodded and walked over to the bench while Edmund went to the nearest drink stall where Peter was standing.

Peter saw Edmund walking his way towards him, and when he came he smiled devilishly at him, "You didn't tell me Ed" he said accusingly. Edmund stared at him confused, "Told you what?"

"That you had feelings for her" and then he smiled at Edmund when he blushed, "Shut up Pete" and he smacked him in the arm playfully.

Edmund poured tropical juice into two cups. Peter finished his drink but still held the cup, "Hey Ed, I've talked to Queen Janet, she was very angry and upset" Edmund looked at Peter "Why was she upset? Did that Prince Darreth tell her anything?" He asked and Peter shook his head even though he was confused at why Edmund said that because he wasn't there when Darreth took Eris forcefully for a dance.

"No not at all, one of her servants accidently managed to break her carriage after trying to place it in the stables for protection. Apparently, it slipped out of his hands and it tumbled down and crashed against a tree, now she's upset about it because she can't think of any ideas as to how to return to the North"

Edmund listened and nodded, but then stopped abruptly and looked at Peter alarmingly, "Wait, if their carriage has broken that means…they can't return for a few days, even a few months!"

Peter nodded, "Yes, it's gonna take a long time to rebuild the carriage, they have no choice but to stay here until it has been mended" Edmund's mouth hung open.

"But, but I don't want that Prince in our palace! He's annoying and he literally forced Eris into dancing with her, he didn't let her go and if it weren't for me, she would have been forced to dance with him all night!" Edmund didn't like this idea at all, but he was gonna have to get used to it since complaining won't change things.

Peter put his hands on his shoulder, "Relax, it's gonna be alright, his and Janet's bed chambers will be on the floor below ours so they won't be bothering us with their snoring unless if they would like to climb 36 steps up to our bed chambers which I highly doubt" Edmund nodded, feeling a bit better now, he just hoped that they would fix their carriage and leave.

Now his next mission, was to tell Eris and hope that she would take it calmly, serenely, and peacefully about the news.

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"WHAT?" Eris shouted, after spitting her drink out from her mouth which fell on the floor. "What do you mean staying here?" Edmund sat next to her.

"I know, I think it's awful too, imagine having to eat breakfast with Darreth seated right opposite us" They both grimaced at the vision. Eris probably felt worse than Edmund, he didn't have to worry, but since Edmund was loyal to Eris, he _did_ have something to worry about: Eris.

It was getting late and Susan, Caspian and Lucy already retired to their chambers. Peter walked up to where Edmund and Eris were seated. "I hope I'm not interrupting" Peter said as Edmund and Eris both looked up at him, "Oh no you aren't" Eris said, smiling, which Peter smiled back. He looked at Edmund

"I think it's getting a bit late, I was wondering if the two of you would be retiring for the night now?" he asked looking expectantly at the both of them

"We'll be gone in a minute Pete, but do you _have_ to make sure that all of us retire before you do?" Edmund asked smiling wistfully expecting an answer.

"Of course I do, the high king can't leave without making sure his siblings and friends' haven't left either, he said trying to make sure it sounded like a good enough reason. Edmund nodded and stood up, Eris stood up too and the three of them walked out of the celebration and into their bed chambers.

Darreth, who was talking to a middle aged faun, saw from the corner of his eye that the high king and the dark haired king were retiring to their bed chambers and Eris was with them too. He was already growing hatred towards Edmund and a little bit for Eris too, how could she reject him from the dance?

When they reached the top of the stairs that contained their bed chambers, Peter turned and said his good nights to both Eris and Edmund.

"I'm glad you home again Pete, good night" Edmund smiled warmly at his brother, Peter looked him with a smile just as warm as Edmund's, "I missed you too Ed, good night, and good night to you too Eris"

Eris smiled "Good night Peter, I'll see you both in the morning" she turned her heel and opened the door to her chambers and shut it behind her.

Edmund turned to face Peter who had the same devilish smile he had on earlier, Edmund blushed, knowing full well why Peter was smiling, "Shut up Pete" and he turned walked towards his bedroom chambers, "Love you too Ed"

He turned and smiled at his brother and they both shut the door with a click, the three of them not knowing what was gonna come for them in the future…

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**Thanks to those who reviewed and sent me messages about this story, it really means alot, please keep them coming! What do you think about Prince Darreth and his mother?**

**Chapter 6 is going to be up soon, can't wait for that :)**


	6. V1: Devils work

**Chapter 6! Woo finally, I really hope you enjoy this.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own The Chronicles of Narnia, just the plot. Credit goes to C.S. Lewis**

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The next morning was like any other day. The sun pierced through her curtains making her eyes squint and pull her blanket over her head. She clearly wasn't a morning person.

Even though they were meant to attend sword practice in half an hour she still told herself the little lie she would say every morning, _five more minutes_.

Edmund was already up and awake. He put on the essentials for training which was safety pads for his shins and his arms which he hid with his tunic for protection; he looked at the little clock which was perched up on his bedside table, he looked at it and smiled to himself because he still had time. He was ready, and now his next mission was the impossible: waking up Eris

Edmund sighed and scowled to himself. He hated this part; he knew how much of a heavy sleeper she can be, thus, making it harder for him to get her to get up. But he had to do it nonetheless.

"Well it's best to get this over and done with", he muttered to himself.

He walked out of his chambers and went next door to Eris's chambers. He didn't have to knock on the door because he knew Eris all too well, and she would definitely not be up at this time of moment.

As he opened the door, he saw her lying, completely covered from head to toe in her blanket. Edmund chuckled, knowing that it was because of the ray of light peaking through her curtains. He walked noisily towards her bed

"Get up Eris, we're gonna be late for training" He waited. No reply. Edmund let out a frustrated breath, "Eris, wake up, the general is waiting for us" Eris rustled about for a second and Edmund was just about to sigh of relief when she stopped all of a sudden, obviously knowing that she'd gone back to sleep.

Edmund groaned, he pulled the covers off of Eris completely, leaving her shivering for a moment as the cool air had hit her. She opened her eyes and looked up at Edmund with a frown,

"Edmund, that's mean" She said in her half-awake voice before sitting up.

"And we're gonna be late if you don't dress now" he said before kissing her quickly on her cheek and at the same time, half amused at Eris's state, it really made Edmund want to laugh seeing Eris walk like a zombie towards her chamber door

"Um Eris?" She craned her head from her chamber door to face Edmund, and he pointed towards her bathroom chambers, "Bathroom's that way" Eris looked towards the door to the bathroom, then her chamber doors, then the bathroom door, and her eyes widened a bit, obviously indicating that she was far more awake now

"Oh… I knew that" she said after hurrying towards the bathroom with a slight blush of embarrassment on her face, which left Edmund laughing to himself before he left to go to Peters' bed chamber.

He didn't have to knock on Peter's chamber door either, since he knew he was already awake and knowing Peter all his life he would never hesitate to do so. He opened the door and as usual, he would see Peter on his desk writing or studying.

It appeared that Peter didn't know that Edmund was in the doorway seeing as Peter was still writing and never looking up. Edmund smiled devilishly to himself and tip toed slowly towards Peter. Once he was behind him, he looked over his shoulder.

"Nice handwriting Pete", Peter jumped and gave a short yelp and dropped his papers on the floor. His eyes were wide with fright, "ED!" he shouted as Edmund burst out laughing.

He sobered and picked up Peter's papers and handed it to him with a smirk on his face, "Oh come on Pete, it was just a joke" Peter didn't appear to be amused, "Not funny Edmund" but soon he too smirked to himself soon after.

Edmund couldn't help but look closer at Peters face. "Pete? Have you had _any_ sleep at all last night?" he questioned. Peter shook his head slowly, "Well, not really. I had to finish off some paper work for the North of the country" Edmund gave him the 'are-you-serious' look, Peter quickly defended, "What? You know how I want things to be over and done with" Edmund sighed

"Seriously Pete, I worry for you sometimes" he walked over to the bedroom chambers, "We should get going, the general is obviously waiting for us, we don't want to risk being late…again"

Peter smirked, "That wasn't me, it was you two! Aslan knows what you both do to appear so late" Edmund had his eyes wide and mouth hung open, "Pete! It's not what you think!" Soon, Peter was laughing hard, and Edmund went over to his bed and threw a pillow at him

Peter threw the pillow back on to his bed "Come on Ed, no more messing around, we need to go" Edmund rolled his eyes, "Look who's talking. A minute ago it was me saying that" Edmund said.

Peter ruffled Edmunds hair which Edmund scowled at him for as he set his hair back into place.

When they were on the hallway, Edmund turned towards Eris's chamber doors and Peter sighed, "Seriously Ed, you know how long girls take to get ready, we'll meet her outside, she'll know where we are" Edmund turned around to look at Peter, then at Eris's door and then Peter again. He shrugged, "Fine, let's go" and they both made their way out of the Cair and into the training fields.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

Darreth was soon awake and found himself in his temporary bed chambers at Cair Paravel. He hated it. He didn't like the materials of his bed sheet covers and the way it looked whole. It was too vibrant and foreign to him. He was normally used to dark colors and darker furniture, but not this. He sighed, obviously feeling fed up. Breakfast would be soon in a couple of hours.

He tried to go back to sleep, but it was no use. All night he was thinking about the celebration. The kings and Eris. He still had hatred towards them two, and even though Edmund was the King of Narnia, he didn't care.

He huffed and got up finally. Stretching like a cat he stood up, and got dressed in his day clothes. Once that was done he looked at himself in the mirror, took out a brush and combed his hair neatly. It had to be neat since his mother always approved of it.

He stood there, looking into space as he remembered the conversation he had with his mother last night before going to bed.

"_Mother, I do not like this place, I want to go home this instant", Darreth complained after he entered his Mothers' 'guest' bed chamber._

_Janet smiled in mock innocence. He looked at her son, "Darreth dear, we shall not return to the North for a very long time" _

_Darreth's eyes widened a bit, "What? Why?" he sat down on his mothers' bed, obviously wanting some sort of explanation._

_Janet turned around abruptly, staring at her son as if he were stupid, "Darreth didn't you listen to a thing I said back home? About our plan?"_

_Darreth looked down with his eyebrows furrowed as he tried to remember a time where his mother talked to him about a plan. He kept on trying to remember, but it was no use; he looked up at his middle aged mother, "No mother, I don't remember anything about a plan"_

"_Stupid boy" Janet murmured before she turned back around to face her mirror so she can take off her dangly earrings._

_Darreth was confused, his eyebrows furrowed even more," Can you try to explain this plan again mother?"_

_Janet stood up, clear concentration on her face as she begun to pace ever-so-slowly around her room, thinking deep in thought as she said her plan out_

"_Darreth dear, you know how I've always had a hatred between the high king of Narnia" she stated, obviously not a question._

_Darreth was puzzled, "But mother, I thought you hated King Edmund"_

_His mother looked at him with a knowing smile, "Yes. I do now" she curled her hands into fists,"It's King Edmund that I loathe" she continued to pace slowly around the room with Darreth sitting on her bed waiting for her to continue_

"_So what's the plan?" He asked, clearly impatient with all the waiting. Janet looked at him with a glare which made Darreth shrink a little. He was scared of his mother, she had more power since she was the Queen and you do not want to get on her bad side._

"_The plan…" she chuckled devilishly to herself, "Darreth, we just signed a peace treaty with Narnia, but they don't know that I plan to kill the King of Narnia, yes, King Edmund the Just" she said proudly_

"_But mother, what about High King Peter and the Queens Susan and Lucy?" Darreth asked still not getting any of this._

"_I shall lock them up in a cell and make sure that they starve till their death!" she said loudly, but not too loudly for anyone to hear._

"_So how are we going to do that?" He asked. His mother grunted._

"_You and your stupid questions, you're just as dumb as your father once was" she said bitterly. Darreth sank lower. Another reason for his fear of his mother was that she had killed his father. Some say that he died of old age. No. He was murdered by Janet, his wife. This made Darreth petrified of his mother since she will not hesitate to kill._

"_First" Janet continued, "As you already know, I was the one who broke our carriage" Darreth's eyes widened. Janet smiled wickedly "Yes Darreth, I did that as an excuse to stay in Cair Paravel for much longer so that we can finally devise a plan to kill King Edmund. And to do that, we will send our spies to sneak into his room at the dead of night and capture him. Once that is done, they will take him to our dungeons far from the Western Woods, and when he wakes up, I shall kill him with liquid poison.—" _

"_What's poison?" Darreth interrupted. Janet narrowed her eyes. _

"_Well, dear son, I think this is the perfect time to go down the library and look it up" she hissed. Darreth felt dumb right now (even though he kind of was). Whenever his mother would talk to him like an animal, he would feel useless._

"_Anyway, before I was so rudely interrupted" she glared at him, "I will make sure that this is done at the dead of night where every one is asleep because then, it will be most unexpected and we will not be caught" Janet smiled into space as she was thinking about her successful plan coming true. But she was interrupted of her thoughts when Darreth asked yet another question_

"_Mother, is that it? What happened to the part where you lock them all in a cage and they die of starvation?" He asked. Janet looked at him. But this time, instead of anger, she smiled. _

"_Dear Darreth, that's the best part. After King Edmunds' death. I will fix our carriage again and I will tell the king Peter that we will return to the North to get some 'professional' aid since Lucy's cordial won't work on poison" she chuckled loudly at her devious plan. Darreth was about to say something when Janet cut him off_

"_But that's not it, once we arrive back to the North, we shall gather all our troops and soldiers that we have and we shall invade Narnia and capture the remaining king and queens"_

"_And then we shall rule Narnia!" Darreth said triumphantly. Janet laughed devilishly_

"_Yes Darreth. We shall" she walked towards her bed and gave Darreth a light kiss on his forehead. "Go to sleep now"_

_Darreth nodded and stood up to leave. When he reached the door he suddenly realised something. He turned around so he was facing his mother who was sitting on her bed about to go so sleep._

"_Mother, we forgot someone" Darreth said quietly but loud enough for Janet to hear. She looked up_

"_Who?" _

"_What about Eris?" Darreth asked_

_Janet paused. She was thinking again as she was looking into space. "Eris...is she the girl who wears boys' clothes?" Darreth nodded. It seems that everyone knows about Eris because of how she dresses and also the fact that she doesn't act like a proper lady most of the time. He found this odd as none of the kings and queens seem to mind about it, they treated her like they had been close forever._

"_We shall kill her too" _

_Darreth stiffened. "Kill her? But mo—"_

"_No questions about it Darreth, I know you like her, you make it so obvious." Darreth blushed lightly "You'll just have to get over her. I shall try and think of something devious to kill her as well. She has to go. She obviously has so much loyalty for Narnia and this so called Great Lion. I know that she is intelligent. I've seen her sword fighting, she's better than you" _

_Darreth gave her mother a surprized look "Better than me?" _

"_Yes. She is too good; I've never in my whole 48 years witnessed a girl holding a weapon. She moves ever so fast and I know that if I don't kill her, she would turn up at the invasion and kill all of my soldiers"_

_Darreth went quiet. Obviously hurt from his mother's words, how could she say Eris is better than him at using a sword? He shook his head lightly to put away the hurt._

"_So, you're going to kill her?" Darreth said trying to process everything._

"_Yes, I'll think of something. Now go to sleep before I make you" _

_Darreth nodded and wished his mother a good night and closed the door lightly._

Darreth was still trying to think of how his mother would make her plan come true, would he have to be a part of it? He felt hesitant. A part of him saying that this would never work out whereas another part of him urged him to go on and follow his mothers 'successful' plan.

He shook his head slightly and walked out of the room. He walked outside for some air before breakfast would be served. In the distance, he heard a noise of metal crashing into metal over and over again. He followed the direction of where the noise was coming from.

He could finally see why. Edmund and Peter were sparring. Edmund had two swords and Peter had one sword with a shield. The shield was silver in the background and it had a big red lion in the centre, it looked like the lion was giving out a roar judging by how the lion was drawn and made on the shield.

He could see Eris nearby, sitting with her back against a tree. She looked as if she had just finished a spar seeing by how she was panting fast.

The general clapped his hands when they were done. Edmund had won; he had a triumphant smile on his face as he held out his hand for Peter to take which he took, panting for breath.

"My, I've never seen a spar that took this long! 8 minutes has got to be a record. Well done my kings" the general congratulated.

Peter regained his breath "Well done Ed, I've never sparred for this long in my life"

"I could say the same thing" Edmund replied smiling "I won this time" he stuck his tongue out.

"Not fair Ed, at least I won last time" he said defensively so he didn't appear weak

"Yeah,_ last_ time" Eris said looking up at him amusingly. Peter narrowed his eyes playfully, "Edmund your girlfriend's being mean"

Eris flushed pink and Edmund grinned but sobered as he looked at Peter, "Pete shut it" and Peter couldn't help but laugh loudly. Eris laughed quietly to herself as well as she found it hilarious when the brothers would bicker.

Eris turned her head to see Darreth standing a few metres away looking at the brothers with a fascinated expression, as if he was lost in thought.

Peter saw Eris looking at something so he turned his head to see what she was looking at. He saw Darreth standing, and when their eyes met, Darreth jumped a little as he realised he'd been lost in thought whilst looking at Peter.

"Uh hello Prince Darreth" Peter said, trying to sound formal and kingly with the Prince of the North at their presence, "You've come for sword practice too?"

Darreth stood there for a moment, 3 pairs of eyes were staring at him, waiting for an answer. After the conversation he had with his mother, he couldn't help but feel queer around them

"Y-yes I have" he said awkwardly as he saw Eris's uncomfortable expression after what happened after the celebration.

"I didn't know you sword fight…" Edmund said quietly but enough for Darreth to hear.

He looked at Edmund, "I do, king Edmund, I practice back at home every evening" he said in a matter-of-factly way.

"Then lets spar" Eris said as she stood up, unsheathing her sword, surprizing everyone, Edmund had thought she would have stayed quiet after being forced for a dance by the Prince at the celebration.

Darreth seemed surprized, "I-I don't fight a girl"

Eris laughed, "Just because I'm a girl doesn't mean that I am weaker or stronger, we are equal, it doesn't matter the gender" she said sharply

Edmund had always known that she would hate things like that, when people would judge her based on her gender. It kind of annoyed him too.

Darreth stood there for a moment trying to decide. It took him a while before he replied, "Okay" he walked towards them and then realized that he didn't have his sword with him. He bit back curses and looked up at them

"I'm afraid I left my sword at my room" he said. Edmund stepped forward and gave him one of his swords

"Fight with one of my swords" he offered, still feeling odd around Darreth.

He took it slowly and looked at the girl in front of him. She was in a ready position with a determined look on her face.

"_Yes. She is too good; I've never in my whole 48 years witnessed a girl holding a weapon. She moves ever so fast" _Darreth remembered what his mother said about her sword fighting skills which didn't help with his confidence.

He too, got into his position. They waited for the General's call.

Edmund and Peter were sat against a tree watching the two of them. Edmund knew that Eris would be taking her anger on what happened last night to this spar.

_This should be good_ Edmund thought, with a smile.

The general called out "You may begin" and Eris was already on the move. She swung her sword from right to left which was intercepted by Darreth's sword. Darreth swung his sword above, and Eris ducked to prevent the slash, while doing that she swung low which Darreth jumped and prevented it. Metal clash after metal clash they fought. With Eris moving faster and faster.

Darreth began to feel a little tired but kept trying to go on, his mother was right. This girl would never stop and she would happily go on for minutes, even hours!

Eris swung her sword rapidly and Darreth began to slow down, which Eris took advantage of and hit his right shoulder with the surface of her sword. She won. The general called out "Well done Eris, you've won—Eris, you may stop now"

Eris didn't stop, she kept going. She had a scowl on her face with anger as she continued to swing her sword at her opponent.

_Oh no,_ Edmund thought, _this is not going to end well for the North Prince_

Eris stuck her foot out behind Darreth's feet and as Darreth tried to move back, he tripped over Eris's boots and he fell backwards landing with a thud on his back with a grunt. Eris pointed her sword towards Darreth with a look of seriousness written all over. It bore through his soul that he shivered a bit.

Peter and Edmund stood up and ran towards them.

"Well done Eris! That was some fight" Edmund congratulated, which Eris smiled at.

"Thank you Edmund" she said meaningfully while panting for breath.

Peter realized that no one congratulated Darreth for trying; he held his hand out for Darreth with a smile

"You did well Prince Darreth" But Darreth only looked at him with a scowl and stood up himself, completely ignoring Peter's offered hand.

"I do not need your congratulating and I certainly don't need you to speak as if I hadn't tried" Darreth dropped Edmund's sword fiercely, and stormed off back into the Cair leaving a wide eyed Peter with his hand still outstretched.

He turned around to Edmund and Eris

"Was it something I said?" he asked confused.

"It's a long story Pete" Edmund said, collecting his sword from the ground before smirking at Eris which she playfully smacked him on the arm.

"It's not funny Edmund Pevensie" Eris said trying to be serious but bursting out into laughter instead.

"Well can I know anyways?"

"Can we at least have some breakfast?" Edmund asked "I'm starving"

"Me too" Eris said, smiling. Peter grinned.

"Yes, we've been out here for at least 2 hours and we've not had any breakfast, I guess we've been so into our sparring, we forgot about it, let's go" He turned and walked back towards Cair Paravel along with Eris and Edmund

"Are we ever gonna tell him?" Eris whispered with a smirk on her face.

"I don't think we will" Edmund giggled quietly so Peter didn't hear.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

They were all seated in the dining table with Peter at the end, Susan to his left and Edmund to his right. Janet was seated beside Edmund and Darreth was next to his mother. Lucy was seated next to Susan and Eris was next to Lucy.

At times, Janet would talk across the table to Peter, kindly complimenting on the food which Peter accepted as gracefully as he could. Edmund could tell that Peter was faking his smile. He knew that deep down inside he secretly wanted to be back studying or doing paper work.

Susan was gracefully munching on an egg sandwich, since she was as gentle as she could be. Lucy did the same since she looked up to her. Eris ate a handful of fruit with untoasted bread and butter, nor gentle, nor greedily. Edmund however just chewed on his buttered toast as much as his mouth can hold not really caring about the guests next to him. Eris sniggered at him because his mouth was so big due to the amount of toast in his mouth.

"Ed" Peter hissed kicking his shin from under the table.

Edmund glared "Ow" getting his hand up and resting it on the place where Peter kicked him.

"Where are your manners?"

"Gone forever"

"Ed!"

Edmund rolled his eyes and continued eating…slower this time. Eris shook her head with amusement looking down on her plate and grabbing a handful of freshly picked grapes.

Lucy and Susan smiled too, for this wasn't something they were unfamiliar with.

Darreth glared at Eris mysteriously, as he was deep in thought

Eris would occasionally catch his glare but would turn back the other way quickly, avoiding his stare, obviously feeling uncomfortable with it.

'_Just watch what I'm going to do with you Eris' _Darreth thought '_Just watch'_

With that, he continued eating slowly, still stealing glances towards Eris, feeling the hate slowly build up.

_Just watch_

* * *

**Oooooh, this story is finally building up; I really hope u enjoyed this chapter. ****Chapter 7 will be up soon!**

**I have to warn you that the next chapter will contain graphic scenes, not overly graphic but some of it may contain reference to graphical scenes. If you don't like it then don't read.**

**PLEASE REVIEW! :D**


	7. V1: Regal

**Chapter 7 =)**

**Disclaimer: Yeah you know the drill, C.S. Lewis is the one responsible for Narnia**

* * *

"I have never seen someone so bad at archery in my life" Susan said whilst changing into her evening clothes. A simple green gown with sleeves that was mid-length.

Lucy and Eris were in Susan's room as it was what they'd always do in the evening after they'd have a bath from a hard days practice in the training fields.

"Yeah I mean you couldn't even make it past five centimeters" Lucy said before giggling.

Eris huffed, "Look, I wasn't_ that_ bad"

Susan and Lucy burst into laughter while Eris scowled at them

"Yeah that's why you almost killed one of our guards at the Cair" Susan said as she sobered.

Eris couldn't deny it, she was horrible at archery. If there was one thing that she was bad at, it's definitely using bow and arrows. She couldn't help but replay the event in her head

"_No Eris, you put your right hand at the end of the bow whilst holding the arrow and you put your left hand on the string and pull it with the arrow" Susan explained._

_They were in the training fields and Eris had asked Susan if she can teach her how to do archery since she was so interested in how archery works. She loved watching Susan do her archery because of the way the arrow would fly and hit the target._

"_Oh right" Eris said imprudently before adjusting to the right position "Now what do I do?"_

"_Like I said before" Susan said with a hint of impatience in her voice, "Pull the string with your right hand as far as you can, then let go"_

_Eris nodded and did as she was told. She frowned when she realized that it was harder than she'd thought it would be, "It's hard to pull it"_

"_Just try it Eris"_

_Lucy was seated not far, and was looking at the two of them._

_Eris nodded and tried with as much effort. She slowly pulled the string back, further and further, and waited…_

_And waited…_

_And waited…_

"_Any time now Eris?" Susan said, getting even more impatient_

_They still waited._

_Until Eris finally shot with all her strength. She looked up with a hopeful face, only to hear Susan and Lucy laughing until they fell to the ground. Eris was confused, until she saw why they were laughing._

_She looked down and the arrow was lying there right in front of her. She scowled fiercely as she thought the arrow would go far off in the distance._

_She looked back at the laughing sisters and frowned._

"_Alright, it wasn't that funny, it was my first try, and I can do better" and she stormed off back into the palace leaving Lucy and Susan laughing at the ridiculous attempt_

"The string is so hard to pull, I have no idea how you can do it Susan" Eris said, wondering how Susan can be so good at archery. She slumped back lower on the armchair as she saw Lucy brushing the tangles out of her hair and Susan walking back to sit next to Lucy on her bed.

"I think the same about you and your sword" she said indicating the sword strapped around her hip "You have it everywhere with you"

Eris didn't answer since she knew Susan was wondering why she'd always carry it. Luckily, Lucy came to her rescue

"It's important to her Su, just like how your books are precious to you" Lucy teased before she got a hit on her arm by Susan which made her grin.

Eris grinned along with Lucy, she couldn't help it, Susan was always seen reading a book, she knew from the beginning how intelligent Susan is with Narnian history, it was very interesting hearing all about it.

"Perhaps I should call it a night" Eris said before she stood up, "Goodnight Lucy, goodnight Susan"

"good night" Susan and Lucy said together.

()()()()()()()()()()()

When she entered her bed chambers she groaned at the state of her room. It was a mess. She forgot to make her bed in the morning because she woke up late and didn't have time, and her clothes were scattered every where.

Unlike the Pevensie's, Eris didn't have her own personal servant since she wasn't in royalty business. She had the responsibilities to herself when it came to keeping the room clean.

"Well the sooner I get this room cleaned, the sooner it will get finished" She murmured to herself before starting with her bed. She picked up her blanket and neatened it on her bed which was really big.

She went to her balcony to open the doors up since it was getting hot in her room before she proceeded to pick up her night clothes.

She quickly changed into them which was a dark violet undershirt from one of her tunics and long baggy black pants so she was comfortable while she was sleeping.

With that done she picked up her day clothes and nearly jumped when she heard a rough knock on her door

"Who is it?" she called out

"Edmund" the person called out

Eris could have sworn the voice sounded different but she shrugged off

"Come in"

The door opened and Eris widened her eyes as she saw that the person wasn't Edmund, it was indeed Prince Darreth.

Eris narrowed her eyes "Why did you say you were Edmund when you clearly are not" she said accusingly

Darreth chuckled, his hair messier than usual, as if it had not been combed "Because I know you wouldn't have let me in if you knew it was me"

"Get out, I don't want you here especially after you faked being someone else" Eris said, getting straight to the point

"Why do you not want me here Erich? Is it that you hate me?"

"My name's Eris!" She said getting annoyed

"Is it that you hate me?" He repeated

Eris sighed "No it's just that…I… I don't feel comfortable when I'm around you" She said honestly

Darreth laughed at that "Why not, gorgeous? I know you secretly want to be with me" He moved closer to Eris and she stepped back

"Get out" she demanded

He moved closer, ignoring her words to get out

"I know you want me" He said quietly.

Eris couldn't step back any longer, her bed was behind her so she walked back around her bed slowly, getting away from him

"Stop it. No I don't. Move away and get out" she was getting worried now, which was something rare for Eris. She kind of regretted retreating from Susan's room now

Darreth moved closer and closer until he was almost a meter away from her, her eyes were wide and her heart was beating fast.

For some reason, Darreth couldn't erase away what Eris had said to him at the celebration evening while he took her for a dance

'_You certainly don't act regal for a prince if you force people into doing things'_

"Please. Go away" She pleaded, already feeling uncomfortable.

_I'll give you '__**regal**__'_ Darreth thought to himself

"No" was the only thing he said before he moved forward so fast that Eris hardly had time to react. His lips smashed into hers and Eris widened her eyes so wide. She tried to push Darreth off of her but he was unusually strong; it was no use.

His lips were rough on her, nothing like Edmund's. She tried hitting him off of her but that was no use as well seeing as there was no reaction. He moaned into the kiss, obviously feeling aroused.

Eris was panicking. She was short on breath. She couldn't breathe, until Darreth pulled away from the kiss

"Get off me you stupid perverse idiot!" Eris screamed, hitting him so hard, that he even winced. But he still smiled devilishly.

He moved to kiss her again. And when he did, he pushed Eris onto her bed. She had tears stinging in her eyes now. He wouldn't stop.

"Please stop"

Darreth kissed her again, but this time, sliding his tongue into her mouth. Eris squeezed her eyes in disgust that Darreth was kissing her and she couldn't do anything about it and also that his full weight was on her.

He moved his hand under Eris's shirt and Eris instantly shot open her eyes. She was struggling to stop him. She tried with all her might to stop Darreth's hand from travelling upwards, but it was still useless as his hand reached up to her breasts.

Eris was openly crying, but it accidently turned out sounding like a moan since Darreth was kissing her mouth.

He continued to cup her breasts i a playful manner until he sat up and forcefully removed Eris's undershirt, ignoring her screams and her cries

"STOP IT PLEASE STOP, I DON'T WANT THIS PLEAS—"she was interrupted by Darreth kissing her again. She screamed into the kiss as she squeezed her eyes shut with pain.

She had no shirt on and she was left with only her bra and her pants was still on, and Darreth's hand was underneath Eris's bra, feeling and enjoying Eris's pleas for him to stop. For some reason, it left him more aroused by the minute

Darreth pulled his lips away again before looking down at Eris and then her body before him

"This is easier than I thought" Darreth said to himself

Eris's eye widened at that. She couldn't take it no more. She screamed at the top of her lungs, as loud as she had ever screamed in her life hoping that someone would hear her.

Darreth winced and was about to let go. But he knew of what Eris was planning so he didn't let go.

However, Eris used that as an advantage and pushed him off. She quickly stood up, aiming to get her shirt but was soon stopped, as Darreth pushed her into a wall and started kissing her again.

Eris screamed and pushed and did everything she could. She banged the wall and squeezed her eyes tight.

Darreth didn't let go and Eris was getting breathless, she needed air but Darreth still didn't let go. Her lungs were beginning to sting and she pushed him harder. She needed air.

Darreth grunted in the kiss and didn't let go. His hands were trailing up and down Eris's stomach and breasts which were still covered by her bra thankfully.

Stars came into her vision and she began to feel light headed.

The door suddenly opened and Darreth was instantly dragged off of her and Eris regained her breath. She instantly went for her shirt and put it back on as fast as her arms let her.

She was openly crying, she felt so humiliated, and she saw Edmund holding Darreth up by his collar with his sword pointing up at him with his other hand. He held such a threatening look at Darreth that it even made Eris feel scared.

But Darreth only laughed "Hmph, If it isn't _King_ Edmund" He said, putting venom on the word 'king'

Soon, Eris saw Peter come in with Rhindon sheathed out towards Darreth and Susan standing in the doorway with her hand over her mouth at the state that Eris was in. Even though Eris had her shirt back on, she knew what had occurred because she was lying on the floor crying with red marks on her upper lip due to Darreth's rough lips.

Edmund glared daggers at Darreth, "If you ever come near her again I will kill you, and I won't hesitate to do so" he said, his voice so low with anger that Darreth almost winced.

Susan quickly ran over to Eris and failing in attempt to pick her up so she can put her on the bed. She didn't know how this could happen. Less than half an hour ago, she was happily talking in her room with Lucy and her and now this had happened. It occurred all too fast.

When Eris was fully stood up, which took quite a while, she paused. She looked around, her eyes still wet, and felt dizzy. Everything was moving and random black dots were swimming around her vision.

Susan cried in alarm when Eris collapsed on the floor. Peter, Edmund and Darreth looked and saw the girl on the floor with a worried Susan trying to wake her up.

Peter immediately took action; he called in two guards and told them to take Darreth to the dungeons where he will deal with him afterwards. The two guards nodded and took Darreth away which was surprisingly easy.

Edmund sheathed his sword and ran towards Eris; he picked her up and gently laid her on her bed.

Lucy ran into the doorway, "What happened? I heard noises" she gasped when she saw an unconscious Eris and a worried Susan with an angry Edmund in the room.

Peter quickly stood up, "You should be asleep Lu, come on, I'll explain when you're tucked in" he looked back at Edmund and Susan and gave them the 'I'll-put-Lucy-to-bed-and-distract-her' look.

Once Lucy and Peter disappeared, Susan looked at Eris on the bed, then back up at Edmund,

"Edmund, what happened?" Edmund was silent. He was fuming with anger, he'd never been this angry since England.

Susan didn't expect an answer but then Edmund spoke

"I don't know Su, I just hope it isn't what I think it was. We just have to wait until she wakes up and if she feels like it, she'll explain"

It took less than five minutes before Eris groaned and it caught both Susan and Edmund's attention since they'd been dozing off in their own world for quite some time

Edmund put his hand on the side of her head "its okay Eris, we're here, it's okay" he muttered, hoping it would help Eris wake up.

Her eyes opened and she saw Edmund and Susan beside him. At first she felt confused, but then everything came crashing down on her on what had happened. She was lost for words, she felt awful and humiliated, how did this happen? Was she that weak?

She slowly put herself in a sitting position

She looked over at Edmund before she hugged him tightly for some sort of comfort after what had just happened

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry" she whispered over and over. He hugged her back gently, looking over to Susan with a sympathetic look which she smiled sadly back.

Susan got up slowly and signaled to Edmund that she was gonna leave them alone. Edmund nodded lightly from over Eris's shoulder and she left the room.

"Shhh shh Eris, he's gone, he isn't coming back, I won't let him" Edmund reassured. He tried not to let his anger show through his voice about what Darreth had tried to do.

"I couldn't stop him, I tried Edmund, I really did, but he was too strong, I never realized how weak I was" she said once she calmed down a bit.

Edmund now knew what Darreth tried to do, and it made him even angrier, he pulled Eris back so that she could look at him

"Eris you are not weak, I never want that sentence flowing out of your mouth again, do you hear?"

Eris smiled a small smile and hugged Edmund back; she was so glad that Edmund was here, otherwise, things would have gotten worse, and the thought sent shivers down her

"Eris" Edmund said "Do you want to talk about it? After all, it would make you feel better if you tell someone instead of bottling it up inside, and you know me well enough to trust me"

Eris nodded slowly, she was gonna tell him anyway.

She pulled back and settled herself on the bed; Edmund did as well so that his back was also leaning against the back of the bed next to Eris.

Eris took her time before answering and Edmund didn't seem to mind the slightest, for he was quite a patient person

"Well, I was just in Susan's room along with Lucy talking about our day. It was getting late for me so I bid them good night and went to my bed chambers and I found it a mess so I cleaned it up. During that, there was a knock and I asked who it was and he said it was you" Edmund gritted his teeth and his eyes narrowed but he urged Eris to go on, "so I stupidly believed him and told him to come in and when I saw it was Darreth, I just froze. He lied to me saying that he was you and he told me that he did that because he knew I wouldn't have let him in, which, mind you, I wouldn't have. So I told him to get out but he wouldn't listen. He kept coming forward and moved closer and he…"

Eris stopped talking from there, and covered her face with both of her hands, and Edmund hugged her, but didn't let her continue as he already knew quite well now as to what had happened.

He was so angry no words could describe his hatred. He knew from the beginning that he was to be entrusted. He just knew.

"It's okay Eris, I'm here now, he won't hurt you any more, I won't let him" Edmund whispered quietly to her. Eris leaned her head to his shoulder.

"Please don't leave Edmund, I don't want to be alone tonight… especially _this_ night" Eris said quietly, her voice almost squeaking.

Edmund didn't respond, he only cupped his hand on the side of Eris's head and kissed it "Sleep, you're going to need it Eris"

"Edmund, I'm sorry"

"For what?"

"I don't know…I feel like…I should have been able to stop it, I don't know why I didn't get my sword out, I don't know why I didn't threaten him enough, I should have done something. It's unusual for me to be scared, I always handled things on my own, but this was different, I just feel like I should have at least done something to stop it from happening"

Edmund leaned his head over her head

"It's okay to feel scared every once in a while, even us Kings get scared from time to time"

"Really? even Peter?"

"Yes, even the High King Peter"

"I thought Kings weren't afraid of anything" Eris said quietly

Edmund pulled her in tighter "They do, especially Peter. Believe it or not, Peter is the one who fears worse than all of us"

Eris's eyebrows furrowed "But why?"

Edmund looked up at the ceiling "Well, he is the one who's most responsible isn't he?"

Eris nodded lightly.

"That means that he fears because of all of our well being. If any thing tragic does happen (Aslan forbid), he will more than likely blame it on himself as he thinks he could have at least tried to prevent it"

There was a pause.

"I understand now" Eris relaxed more. She had never thought of Peter that way and all of the other monarchs. It made her feel a bit better somehow.

"Thank you Edmund" Eris said simply, she kissed him lightly on the lips and leaned her head back on Edmund's shoulder.

"I'm here for you Eris"

Soon, Edmund heard her slow, even breathing. She was asleep. Even though Eris wanted him to stay with her, Edmund had to take care of this matter in his own hands and he had to get it down now.

Very slowly, he managed to ease off of Eris as she was leaning on him. Luckily, the heavy sleeper she is, she didn't wake up. He adjusted her into a more comfortable position and drew the satin covers, covering her up to her shoulders. He kissed her on the forehead, still feeling anger towards Darreth and to himself, because, like Peter, he felt that he should have stopped this.

He quietly left the room and walked towards the dungeons feeling his anger build up with each step he was taking. His eyes were demonic and his fists were clenched and his breathing was getting heavier with rage.

After a few turns and a few stairs around the palace, he entered the dungeons, looking down at the figure that had mentally hurt Eris. Normally, he was the kind of person who would control his anger.

But not this time.

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**Review and tell me what you think! I hope you like this so far, there's much more to come, we're not even halfway yet!**

**Chapter 8 is coming soon, What do you think will happen? Reviews are greatly appreciated so get typing :D**


	8. V1: Missing

**Chapter 8! Okay guys, I'm sorry it took me a while to update, I just recently finished 4 exams in a week, and I'm so happy that I've got it over and done with. Now I can focus back to the story, so I hope you enjoy this chapter.**

**Warning: This chapter contains abusive content. Don't like then don't read**

**Disclaimer: Don't own them**

* * *

As he stepped into the dungeons, he frowned as he realized that someone had already beaten him to it

Janet was stood there with her hands on her face with a unusually scary glare on her face, she turned to see Edmund stood in the doorway.

"Just what do you think you are doing? Putting my son in the dungeons for no reason? What has he done and why is he here? If he doesn't tell me what happened, I demand to hear it from the king himself!"

Darreth looked at Edmund with an intense scowl on his face but he was also showing fear, judging by the way he was shaking

"I shall inform you when he is present in our court meeting which takes place tomorrow morning" Edmund said trying his best to prevent his voice from going low with fury

Janet looked at her son in an immensely angry manner, like she wanted to kill him. This sent shivers down Darreth's spine, he really regretted doing this now, for he was about to face the consequences. The meeting didn't matter. It was his mother that he feared. What is her expression going to be like when she finds out what he'd attempted to do? What will she do?

These questions were pacing around his mind that he didn't even notice that his mother had stormed off.

Edmund just stood there, leaning his back on the edge of the doorway, glaring daggers at the tattered boy in his midst.

"Why?" was all he asked. Darreth looked up at him, his eyebrows never diverging from its frown.

There was a pause, and Darreth was considering ignoring the question, but when he saw the look on Edmund's face, he had no choice but to do it

"Revenge"

"For what?"

"For making me feel like trash!"

Edmund just looked at him.

"What do you mean?"

Darreth didn't take his eyes off Edmund even though he didn't answer. Edmund knew he woudn't answer, so he continued

"Darreth I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about, but what you tried to do was dangerous stupid and down right pathetic"

Before Darreth could spit insults at him, Edmund had already stomped off.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()

It was early in the morning and Edmund didn't hesitate in knocking on Eris's door

"Don't worry it's me"

After a moment, the door opened to reveal Eris, fully dressed and looking better than she did last night. She opened the door wider for Edmund to come in

"Good morning Edmund" she greeted obviously trying to seem like nothing happened last night but it wouldn't fool Edmund, he knew the feeling of trying to put something so unforgettable in the back of your mind which is what he felt like when he was in the White Witch's dungeons during the Pevensie's rein.

"How are you feeling?" Edmund asked, clearly worried for her

"I'm fine Ed honestly, I'm not going to make this get to me, we can't undo the past and I hope Aslan fixes that boy up one day"

Edmund couldn't help but chuckle, even at times like this Eris would never let things get to her no matter how awful the situation

"Well, I'm glad to hear you're okay" He said, and briefly kissed her on the lips "By the way, I, along with the others are expected to be in a meeting about what occurred last night, you know, just discussing what his consequences will be and all that, and let me tell you, Janet isn't going to be happy about this"

Eris widened her eyes a bit

"She doesn't know?"

Edmund shook his head slowly

"Nope, Darreth didn't tell her"

"Well this should be good" Eris muttered half amusingly, half pityingly.

Edmund grinned but then sobered

"You aren't expected to attend though"

Eris shot him a look at that, "What do you mean I'm not supposed to attend? This court is about what had happened and in case you didn't know, I was the one involved, shouldn't I have a say?"

Edmund looked down and sighed. How was he supposed to convince her? She was as stubborn as a mule

"And plus I need to be there so I can tell them my side of the story"

Edmund shook his head and put his hands on her shoulders, "Eris, it's for your own good, and there's no need of telling what happened. It's confidential and we're only going to pass sentence to Darreth and his mother"

Eris narrowed her eyes a little; there was a pause. Then she sighed and nodded her head "Okay, what should I do for the time being?"

"Just stay in your room for a bit" Eris had a look on her face as if someone had accused her of something even though that wasn't the case, Edmund chuckled "I know, I know, it's going to be boring, but me and Peter will try our best to speed things up, 'cause trust me, we are dreading this as much as you're dreading staying up here" Edmund paused before continuing, "I was going to get Susan or Lucy to keep you company but they're busy with their mid-day schedule—Ow"

Eris smacked him on the arm, but not painfully. She grinned at Edmund's expression, "I couldn't care less if I was alone Edmund, I'm going to be fine, stop being a worry wart" she laughed and Edmund smiled in defeat

"Your right, I guess I _am_ getting a bit perky after all of this, you've always been brave and-"

"Edmund" Eris interrupted again "You're doing it again" she smiled while looking into his eyes. They slowly closed the distance between each other.

Edmund wasn't aware that he was kissing Eris; he was so lost in thought. But once he realized what was going on, he deepened the kiss. It was then he realized that Eris needed this, to erase the memories from the previous night and float in a world where it was only them.

She wasn't aware that she had gripped onto Edmund's elbows. They parted for air and she let go of the grip and looked up to see Edmund's hazy dark eyes and smiled "You should go now; you don't want to be late now do you?"

Edmund stepped back and nodded, "Yes, the court starts in five minutes, you sure you don't mind being alone?"

"Edmund" Eris said in a demanding manner while putting her hands on her hips

"Oh…right, sorry" he blushed before he left the room.

()()()()()()()()()()()()

The court was held in the great hall where the four thrones were. Only two people were sat on their thrones, High King Peter and King Edmund. Susan and Lucy weren't to attend.

Peter looked to Edmund's direction on his right and saw the younger boy looking down with his fists clenched and his lips pursed. He reached a hand on to his shoulder and the boy looked up at him, all his angry features gone in a second at the sight of his brother's worried expression.

"Edmund, are you okay?"

Edmund bit back curses to himself. He hated making his brother worried. The person he loved so dearly as a brother, and knowing it was because of him. He plastered on a smile "I'm fine Peter, don't worry, I just want to get this over and done with"

Peter nodded and looked at the setting before him. It was quite empty actually. No Narnians were present because Peter changed the law stating that no one outside of Cair Paravel should witness a sentencing of a criminal, it would only result in causing more conflict. He liked it better this way too.

"And" Edmund looked towards Peter as he spoke, "they sure do take their time Peter, when are they going to come? We've been waiting for almost 10 minutes and neither Queen Janet nor Darreth have come"

Peter frowned at that. Edmund was right, what was taking them so long?

Soon, their questions had been answered when the guards opened the grand doors revealing a confused frowning Janet in the doorway. She made her way to stand before the kings.

After her, Darreth was seen in the doorway with 2 prison guards, one on his left and the other on his right and he was chained up by his wrists and ankles but they were long enough for him to walk in.

He seemed to be protesting that he wouldn't come further but the prison guards were too strong for him so they had to practically haul him until he fell on the floor with the Kings above him on their thrones. The two prison guards were stood behind him making sure he wouldn't make a run for it.

Janet was looking at the commotion with a confused face, mixed with worry and mostly anger. She looked up at the Kings "What is the meaning of this?"

King Peter cleared his throat quietly "Prince Darreth has committed a very serious transgression"

"And what, pray tell, was it?" she asked in a way to prove him wrong. Darreth, not far from her, tensed up, the colour escaping through his skin. Edmund, who saw him pale, had no sympathy for him whatsoever, he did what he chose to do, and now he had to face the consequences which was his mother.

Knowing that Peter wouldn't answer that question, Edmund took over

"He had tried to rape someone. This is an—"

"WHAT?" Janet's voice surely echoed throughout the palace, Peter wondered is Susan or Lucy heard it from the stables.

"YOU DID WHAT?" she looked to her son who had shrunk a little.

"I didn't rape her mother" Darreth said quietly, not looking in her eyes, but looking down instead, preparing for another tumultuous yell from his mother.

King Peter decided to step up before the woman would go mental,

"Queen Janet, Darreth is partially right, he didn't actually rape her"

Janet looked up at him, her eyes still wide from the shouting. "Then what have you summoned us here for! I'm confused, has my son raped someone or not!"

"Actually" Edmund began "He _attempted_ to"

Darreth shrunk even lower, even though he was on his knees. Janet looked at her son with a disgusted face "You little imbecile! Why?" then she looked towards the Kings, "He can't be punished for that, after all he didn't actually rape this person, so no harm was done"

"No harm was done?" Edmund yelled, standing up as he said so, "There may not have been physical harm Queen Janet, but there was an awful lot of mental harm done on her!"

Janet opened her mouth to protest, but was quickly blocked off my Edmund

"No! Let me finish!" She shut her mouth as she saw the intense glare from Edmund, "Yes, he didn't rape her, but he tried to do it. Imagine what would have happened if I didn't break into the room! Imagine what would have happened if I didn't hear the screams! Imagine what would happen if none of us stopped this!"

Janet didn't answer, he did have a point. Things wouldn't have ended nicely if it wasn't stopped. It only added much more anger towards Darreth. She looked at Darreth with dead in her eyes.

Peter was shocked by the anger exploding out of Edmund. He'd never witnessed him like this before nor did he realize that this was how much he loved and cared for Eris. Yes, he was angry too about the situation but not as much as Edmund, and not to mention that he got straight to the point in a matter of a couple of words.

Janet stayed quiet which didn't help with Darreth's anxiety.

Peter stood up signalling for an elderly faun to give him a thin scroll, he nodded his thanks and unwrapped the scroll.

He read out "I hereby announce the punishment for Prince Darreth's crime. You are to be banished from Narnia, Archenland, The Western Woods and anything in the borderlines of Narnia" He wrapped the scroll again "No arguments needed. You are all now dismissed" He looked at Darreth and Janet  
"I will expect you both packing up your clothes and essentials before you are banished from here" Peter said in a firm tone before sitting down whilst keeping a straight face.

Darreth looked to the Kings with wide eyes, then to his mother and then to the Kings again "No…" he whispered, before the guards dragged him out. He didn't protest this time.

Queen Janet stood there for a moment. Her eyes were wide too and she seemed shocked. But deep down inside she was furious with her son not because of his attempt of rape. No. It wasn't even that. She was angry because now their plan wouldn't go as planned anymore. She couldn't care less about his son's actions but it was the consequences that made her want to scream. How would they stick to their plan, now that they were expected to leave the borders of Narnia and back to the North? Especially seeing as Edmund and Eris are alive and well.

_It is time that kid would learn a lesson,_ she thought to herself as she angrily stormed out of the hall with a guard behind her.

Now it was just Edmund and Peter. Edmund leaned his elbow on his lap and covered his face with his hands. Not because he was upset but because he had finally let his anger out and now Darreth had got what was coming for him.

Peter sighed and stood in front of Edmund, kneeled down and hugged him. Edmund leaned his head on the crook of Peter's neck and sighed

"I'm sorry you had to see that Peter, I had no control of myself, I obviously let my anger get the best of me"

"Shhhh" Peter reassured "its okay Edmund, you let it all out. Do you feel any better now?"

Edmund paused, obviously thinking for a moment. He pulled back, "Now that I think of it, I kind of do. I feel much better"

Peter smiled "Good"

They both stood up, and left the grand hall.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

He was bruised on his back and hips, and his cheeks were stinging from the intense slap he was given. He put his hand on his newly bruised cheek and looked up at his glowering mother with fear.

They were at Darreth's 'guest' bed chamber and they were alone without any guards so that they could pack up in peace. Well… not so peaceful after all.

"I can't believe you" she hissed at him "You've ruined everything!" she hit him so hard on the side of his head and he fell back with a thud. He instantly got up on my elbows and looked at his mother with wide eyes

"Mother please-"

"Shut up! I can't believe you would do this" she shouted

"I couldn't help myself, I was so angry with how they treated me and I thought maybe if I get reveng—"

"I couldn't care less of what you did! You ruined our chances of making our plan come true! Our plans are now ruined because you"

"But mother I—wait, what? You don't care about what I did?" he was surprized by this

"Of course I don't you pathetic excuse of a son" she whispered sharply "Our plan is—I mean _was_ to kill king Edmund and this Eris girl. But now we have to think of something else thanks to you"

Darreth looked down, and then he slowly stood up

"Who was this person anyway? The one you attempted to …rape" she asked slowly, hoping it wasn't who she thought it was.

Darreth sighed, dreading to answer that question but answered nonetheless, "Eris", he didn't need to look up, for he knew the expression on Janet's face would be like

Her anger came rushing to her again, "How could you? Why her? In fact, why do it in the first place? You knew what the consequences would be! Now our plan has gone in the trash"

Darreth shot a look at his mother "Perhaps if you weren't so power hungry we wouldn't have gotten into this mess already!"

That did it. Her actions took over her and she hit Darreth with full force with a painful thud and he collapsed on the floor as he blacked out in front of her.

"Stupid boy" she muttered in a low dangerous voice, before she stepped over him to pack up her and Darreth's things.

Half an hour later, Darreth slowly opened his eyes. His head pounded as he remembered how we found himself on the floor of his room. The stinging on his cheek was gone but the bruise was still there. He looked around and noticed a medium-sized bag on top of his bed.

He then noticed that the room seemed a little empty.

"Save the 'thank you' for later, we have a King and girl to capture" Darreth spun fast to meet his mother holding a similar bag on her shoulder with a dark cloak draped around her near the doorway.

"What?" he said pathetically

She stood up straighter, with a mock surprized look on her face "Oh didn't you know? I have another devious plan and it's ten times much better than our previous one" she grinned devilishly.

Darreth just sat there, with his palms resting on the floor behind his back.

"Well don't just sit there, grab your things, I shall tell you about it on our way to the Green Forest"

Darreth nodded and stood up.

He was confused, _Green Forest? Shouldn't we be making our way back to the North?_ He quickly shrugged off the feeling seeing as his mother was waiting for him.

They were both escorted by guards towards the doors Cair Paravel where High King Peter and King Edmund were stood, waiting for them.

"I see you have come finally" Peter said in his regal 'High-King' voice "We hope you have a safe journey back"

Janet ignored him completely, she had the 'I'm-going-to-pretend-your-not-there' face and her head was held high as she walked past the Kings. But there was a moment where she eyed King Edmund with a mysterious look and that send shivers down Edmund's spine.

Darreth however, was stood there following after his mother; he too, avoided looking into the King's faces. He hated the feeling of humiliation.

Edmund and Peter saw the bruised cheek on Darreth's face but didn't comment anything about it.

The kings watched as they were out of sight and the doors of Cair Paravel closed.

The sun was nearly setting and once the doors of Cair Paravel closed, Janet quickly turned around and Darreth also came to a halt

"Mother? What are we doing? And why did you say that we were headed to the Green Forest? Aren't we headed home?"

Janet smiled "But Darreth dear, how are we supposed to travel with no carriage?"

Darreth shrugged, "I don't know, you tell me"

"That was a rhetorical question you fool!"

"Oh, sorry…"

"Besides, our carriage never broke to begin with. I've hid it somewhere, and when we find it, we are going to travel from there"

Darreth nodded in understanding "I see. That's very clever of you mother"

"And once we get into the carriage, I shall tell you all about our new plan"

They both headed into the nearest forest and they searched and searched for minutes. Darreth had no idea what he was supposed to do, so he pretended that he was trying hard.

After another few minutes, Janet found it

"There! I found it! Yes, it's still here! Come on Darreth, we don't have a moment to lose" she said excitedly

Darreth neared his mother's direction and saw the carriage well and ready. But then he realized something and frowned

"But mother, who will ride the carriage? We have no horses so…"

Janet laughed "Dumb boy, it's simple. We get the horses from the Narnian stables"

"But mother that's stealing!"

Janet snorted "Ha! Like you haven't committed a crime" Darreth shrank, for she had a point.

"Wait here, before you cause any more trouble" and with that she ran off. For an old woman her age, she sure moved like a young woman.

Roughly 20 minutes had passed before Darreth spotted his mother nearing him with two horses on each side of her.

"Mother!" Darreth said, feeling shocked by how simply she had done it "Ho-how did you...?"

"Shut up and get in the carriage"

Darreth observed the horses and his eyes widened up instantly

"Mother! Those two horses belong to Queens Susan and Lucy! If we get caught we would be in huge trouble!"

"Oh do shut up, like I didn't know that? I would have taken Edmund's horse for all I know but these two horses can't talk and their just as dumb as you. Besides, I wouldn't have taken Peter's horse either seeing as it's a unicorn. I don't want to be seen with a unicorn"

Darreth nodded, accepting his mother's pickyness, and climbed into the carriage. Janet draped the cloak more firmly around her so that people wouldn't recognize her if they saw her, and climbed into the rider's seat while tightly grasping for the horses reins.

"Ha-ya!" she yelled as she slammed the rope on the backs of the horses. They neighed and began walking in the direction that Janet wanted them to go.

Darreth sat as close as he can to his mother

"Mother? Can you now tell me of this new plan? I really want to know"

"Of course you do" she muttered, "Well Darreth; this new plan is simply much better"

"Which is…?"

"Shut up and let me explain" Darreth went quiet immediately.

"Now, before I was so _rudely_ interrupted, my plan consists of us being in the Green Forest. From there, I am going to call the Naiads to send a message to a couple of our soldiers from the North to come to us, where I will tell them what they should do"

"But mother, what if the Naiads don't obey?"

"They will. The Naiads from the Green Forest are all on our side"

Darreth nodded, but then realized that his mother wouldn't have seen it seeing as she was focused on the horses "Okay, and then what?"

There was a pause. "Well, once the small amount of soldiers come to us, which won't be a long time because I will tell the Naiads to make them come here by our Gryphons from our castle, I will tell them what to do and you'll know what will happen later on"

Darreth frowned "Wait, I didn't get that, what will the soldiers do?"

"I'm not telling you" She said casually

"But why not?"

"Because you will mess things up, I know you Darreth; you always do, so it's for me to know and you to find out"

With a huff Darreth sat back further.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

Darreth didn't remember falling asleep but when he found himself waking up, he saw that they had reached their destination. He sat up straighter and stepped out of the carriage.

It was still pitch-black and he took in his surroundings. Well, it was exactly what the title of the place says; it was green and filled with trees almost everywhere. _This was the Green Forest _he presumed.

It smelt like wildlife but it was incredibly quiet. The only thing he heard was the Horses grazing and his mother whispering to a Naiad.

He knew he wasn't supposed to hear what his mother was saying so he just turned back around and observed the place.

"Darreth, I see you're awake now, you were asleep when we made it here" Janet said as she finished her conversation to the Naiad, which the creature obeyed straight away to her command, and walked nearer to Darreth.

She put her hand in her cloak pocket; revealed a loaf of bread and threw it to Darreth, which he caught quite nicely.

"Thanks" he said before sitting down on the ground to eat.

"I have a lot more where that came from but we have to save it for when we are desperately hungry"

Darreth nodded "Do you have water?"

Janet gave him a flask "Here, but don't drink too much, we have to save some. There is no river nearby"

He nodded, taking a small sip and giving it to his mother.

It was really dark now and Janet put up a fire to keep them warm.

"Sleep. We have to be up and ready when it's day time"

Darreth nodded, obeying his mother before making himself comfortable on the hard ground. He closed his eyes which was uneasy for him as images of Eris's terrified face replayed in his mind. Soon, he was fast asleep which took a while.

Janet from the other side of the fire looked at her son as he was breathing slowly. This meant he was asleep now. But she couldn't help but notice him shivering. She tutted to herself before standing up and picking her son up, she lay him inside of the carriage which was warmer, still cold, but warmer and better seeing as he was sensitive to the cold.

She looked at his face and marked out his bruise on his cheek. She didn't feel the slightest bit guilty. She had a cold heart, even when it came to her own son.

She also noticed his eyebrows furrowing.

"Poor thing" she said quietly, "Probably having nightmares. But that's what he deserves…" before she left the carriage to sleep outside.

However, it wasn't nightmares that he was having, but a twist in the event playing in his dreams.

_Instead of Eris screaming and shouting and yelling for him to stop, she was enjoying Darreth's attempt in raping her in his dream. He rocked back and forth against her and she was screaming and panting in pleasure, she was completely naked and so was he, and she was repeating Darreth's name over and over again._

_Then the dream changed and they changed positions all of a sudden and he found that she was sucking him off against a wall and he groaned in pleasure. She looked up at him to see his expression which only turned him on more. She kept on going without stopping, until Darreth came; it felt so good he moaned. After he came, he looked down and saw that she swallowed every bit of come he released. She looked up at him and smiled in mock innocence. "You're such a criminal Darreth, why would you do this to me?" _

He woke up and found it was morning. He just lay there dazed. The dream felt so real and he could have sworn that he actually did feel turned on.

He looked down at his pants, and cursed silently when he saw that he actually came in his sleep.

_I'm so stupid_ he muttered to himself. He got up and rummaged through his bag and pulled out another spare pant. He quickly put it on while thinking to himself _How did I get into the carriage anyhow?_

He stepped out on the carriage and his eyes widened as he saw that his mother had actually got three of their soldiers to them. There were three gryphons next to them and they bowed to the Queen and she thanked them and they flew off.

"Ah Darreth, I see you are awake" Janet said

"Morning mother" he greeted as he normally did. The three soldiers bowed to him with respect.

"Morning to you three too" he said, trying not to be rude

"As you too my prince" One of the soldiers said.

"Darreth, go and eat some bread for breakfast, we have a long day ahead of us because we're going to travel back to the North to get ready"

Darreth cocked his head to the side "Get ready? However do you mean mother?"

Janet grinned "You'll see son…you'll see" She turned back around.

Darreth shrugged; perhaps he _will_ see when the time was here. He was about to turn around to get his breakfast which was just a piece of bread, when he heard his mother talking to the soldiers

"I want you to do it late in the evening, that's after their evening meal and they're going to have to get a big meal because that's the last decent food they're gonna eat" she chuckled and the three soldiers bowed

"Of course, your majesty, we will not fail you"

"You best not, or I'll kill you all" she threatened in the friendliest manner

The soldiers nodded and took off.

By that time, Darreth was mid-way past eating his bread

"Come on, get in the carriage, you can finish that off on the way back" Janet said before kicking Darreth to get up which he did so.

"Okay mother" he hopped on to the carriage and his mother tugged on the reins of the horses and urged them to go.

They were on their way back… for something bigger.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

The four Pevensie's and Caspian were in Eris's room. Susan and Lucy came into her room while Peter and Edmund were in the court meeting and they were surprised to find that they were in her room seeing as Susan always liked to stick to her schedules.

"So they're gone for good?" Eris asked trying to be sure

"For the one thousandth time,_ yes_" Peter repeated

Edmund chuckled as did Susan.

Edmund sobered and turned to Peter "Pete what about the Peace Treaty? Are you still going to sign the papers?"

Susan scoffed "Not after what happened we won't"

"But Susan, if I do sign the papers it would reduce conflict" Peter said before looking to Edmund "Right Ed?"

Edmund sighed "I'm not sure Pete, Susan's right but you're right as well"

"I think you should do it" Lucy said which bought attention from the five people in the room. Lucy grew up once before, she may look like a child but her knowledge and faith had never left her despite being young again "Sign it Peter, that way if they did do something like start a war, the blame would be on them. Think about it, they were the ones who requested yours and Caspian's presence in the North for peace"

"She's right Peter" Caspian said, agreeing with Lucy "if they were to attack, it would make them look like the accusers; after all, we didn't ask to be in any of this"

Peter nodded, taking in the information "Thanks, it makes better sense"

Lucy yawned and Susan spotted it "Come on Lu, it's time you went to bed"

Lucy scowled at her, "I'm not sleepy" but her actions betrayed her as she yawned again.

Peter laughed "It is getting late now, we're all expected to wake up early" He looked towards Eris "You sure you'll be alright alone?"

Eris sighed and face palmed her head, she and Edmund had a discussion on this before he went to the meeting. Edmund broke down in laughter and Caspian and Peter looked at Edmund with a weird face. Susan and Lucy were already out of the room.

"Shut up Edmund" Eris said softly before laughing to herself as well

They both sobered after a few minutes "Right, sorry" He pursed his lips so he wouldn't burst out laughing again.

"You better be" She said while smiling.

Peter and Caspian looked at each other and back to the odd couple "I guess I shouldn't even ask" Peter immediately said before smiling at the two and bidding them all goodnight. Caspian did so too before he and Peter went off to their own rooms.

"Right, I'll see you in the morning then" Edmund said heading to the door

"Yeah, good night" she said and he replied saying good night and left the room. She sighed and lifted the covers of her bed and tucked herself in before going off in a dreamless world.

The next day was pretty busy for Edmund and Eris; they had their breakfast and did several hours of training which left them tired and dripping with sweat not to mention the intense sparring they had between each other: Edmund beat her three times and Eris beat him 4 times which she teased him about it all throughout the day.

After having a nice bath, Eris was cleaned again and so did Edmund, Peter and Susan after their training.

It was during their evening meal when a worried looking faun came into the hall and informed the Kings and Queens of Queens Susan and Lucy's missing horses.

"What?" Susan and Lucy said at the same time

"But how?" Lucy said horrified. Caspian put his hand to her shoulder to make her calm down

"Who took them?" Susan asked the faun with a worried look on her face.

"I'm afraid that's the problem your majesty, nobody knows, the stable guards were found lying on the floor with blood on them, don't worry, we took them to the healers and they're being healed"

Edmund took action immediately "I'll go and find the horses" but before he could stand up, Peter stopped him

"Edmund, you can't, the sun is setting and it will be dark soon. It would be no use to try looking for them in the dark"

"Peter's right Edmund" Eris said "It's best to look early in the morning where it's more likely to spot them"

"I hate it when you're right" Edmund said to both Peter and Eris.

Peter looked to the faun and then to his sisters "Me, Edmund and Caspian will set off early in the morning to search for the missing horses, I just pray to Aslan that we find them"

Susan and Lucy nodded their thanks but found it hard to finish their meal. But they all did eventually, after all, who says 'no' to food?

After the meal, Peter retreated to his room to plan out what time they should take off and what places they should search. Susan was in Caspian's room after she put Lucy to bed. Eris was in Edmund's room lying on his bed next to Edmund.

"I can't believe Susan and Lucy's horses have been taken" Eris said disbelievingly.

Edmund sighed quietly "Neither can I, let's just hope that they are found tomorrow. I'm going to look everywhere my feet stands on and I won't come back until I find them"

Eris giggled "I've never seen you so determined before"

"Well if anything happens to those I love, I get a little determined yes"

"A little too determined" she grinned "but that's what I love about you, I admire that"

"That's irony"

Eris leaned on her right elbow and faced Edmund. She looked at him with a frown and a smile at the same time "How am I being ironic?"

Edmund looked at her and smiled "well, because _you_" at this time he put his hand on the back of Eris's neck "are more of the determined person than me. Remember when you saved my life?"

Eris smiled and let Edmund pull her down for a kiss. It was soft, quick and sweet, and when they let go, she laid her head on Edmund's chest and he gently brushed her ebony waves.

"I can feel your heart beat Edmund"

"It only beats for you"

She smacked him playfully in the stomach "You are so cheesy!"

They both laughed and sobered after a while and laid there in comforting silence, and soon, the dream world over took them.

()()()()()()()()()()())()()

_Creeeek_

Eris shot her eyes open as she heard a noise. She saw that Edmund was still asleep peacefully from where she laid her head on his chest.

She looked at Edmund while he was sleeping. He looked so peaceful – almost like an angel. She gently brushed a lock of hair away from his eyes; all of a sudden, she heard the noise again, this time, it sounded like distant foot steps but at the same time, it didn't. It was a strange sound as if someone was stamping their foot.

_Thump Thump Thump Thump Thump_

It was getting louder.

Deciding that she'd better make a move, she woke Edmund up from his peaceful state

"Edmund" she whispered. He stirred but did wake up, and she tried again, "Edmund! Wake up! I think someone is coming" she whispered more harshly.

Edmund did wake up this time "What? Eris what's going o—", then he stopped as he heard the noise that Eris heard: the same thumping sound.

They both looked towards the balcony. The balcony door was already opened, as Edmund distinctly remembered opening them a couple hours ago.

"It's coming from there" Eris whispered. She got off the bed and went for her sword. Edmund did the same thing.

Edmund sheathed his sword and so did Eris. They stood close to each other not knowing what was happening.

Then there was a moment of silence.

The only sound that was heard was their own breathing. Eris tightened her hold on the sword while Edmund looked around being aware.

Suddenly an arrow shot through the balcony door, just missing Eris's shoulder by a few inches and it hit a vase that was sitting on a big shelf on the wall, it broke into tiny pieces due to the arrows killer shot. Edmund and Eris both turned around and looked at what just happened.

"What was that?" Eris said, much more loudly this time

"It looks like someone is trying to assassinate either me or you" Edmund said with a tinge of fear in his voice

Suddenly, Eris felt someone put their hand around her mouth to muffle out her screams and so did Edmund.

"Or maybe" A voice spoke behind Edmund. It sounded like an older man, they were soldiers judging by their armour "we're trying to kill you _both_!"

The two men who had their hands clasped around Edmund and Eris's mouth started laughing as if they'd won a war

Eris tried to stab the person from behind with her sword, but the person saw the move and quickly moved out of the way

"Ah ah ahhhh, not so fast dandelion" The soldier behind her said in a mocking manner, Eris continued nonetheless

"You're a fierce one arent'cha" the same soldier teased.

Both of them didn't stop thrashing, trying desperately to escape their hold on them, it made it ten times hard as they couldn't scream.

The soldiers took action when they realized that both King Edmund and Eris were tougher than they thought

The soldier who was clasping Eris's mouth called out "Quick Verna, the thing"

The soldier holding Edmund – or Verna as the other one called him, said "What? What are you—oh that! Yes I've got it" he chuckled evilly as he reached out with his free hand, a vial of red liquid.

Eris watched in horror as the soldier managed to pour the liquid on a cloth. The look on Edmund's face was agonising to watch and even worse when, no matter how hard she tried, couldn't stop them.

Verna got the cloth into his hand and forcefully rested it on Edmund's mouth. He tightened his hold on it so that Edmund would inhale every last scent of the poison.

Edmund's thrashing increased as he tried to force himself not to inhale. But obviously, that didn't work as he couldn't hold his breath in for longer.

His thrashing reduced slower and slower. He suddenly lost grip of his sword – making it clash on the floor – and his eyes rolled at the back of his head and he fell limp against the soldier

Eris didn't realise she had tears in her eyes as she saw Edmund limp and unmoving.

"Here Victor" Verna said, handing the older soldier the same cloth he used on Edmund "Use the same one, it will last, we don't want our poison to run out"

Victor nodded, tightening his hold on Eris as she started to thrash more violently and trying to scream as loud as she can through the damp hand

"Mmmmmm! Mmm!"

She tried using her sword again, but that again, was no use.

Suddenly she felt a different material against her mouth instead of the rough, sweaty hands, and she knew it was the poisoned cloth; like Edmund, she tried to hold her breath in as long as possible, but she could hold it in anymore.

As she inhaled for breathe again, and she tasted the horrible taste of iron, which she presumed, was the poison.

She tried desperately for the soldier to let go of her but he was obviously much bigger and stronger than she was.

She felt her legs disobeying her to continue moving, as did her arms. Her movements slowed down and she couldn't find her voice anymore. Blackness fell into her vision and the last thing she saw was the soldier picking up Edmund's limp form and heading towards the balcony.

She tried to fight off the fact that her vision was faltering. But soon the world became black.

()()()()()()()()()()()()

She opened her eyes slowly and was confused by her surroundings. Then everything came back crashing into her memory as she remembered what had happened previously.

She suddenly gasped and sat up as she realised where she was.

A dark, large and eerie dungeon

_Oh Aslan_

* * *

**I think this is possibly the longest chapter yet! I do hope that it makes up for my late update. I have no idea what it's like to be poisoned, but I hope I got it accurate with Eris and Edmund's reaction to it. I hope you enjoyed this chapter**

**So what do you think will happen? Please review! I'll give you a cookie? Yep, that's a deal :D **

**Chapter 9 is coming soon … no I promise it will come SOON this time **


	9. V1: Revenge

**Chapter 9!**

**Hope you enjoy this chapter. This chapter contains very mild violence**

**Disclaimer: C.S. Lewis owns them**

* * *

The cobblestone walls were ancient and rusty; there were bits of moss growing from each crevice and the floor was hard, dirty and highly uncomfortable to sit on. There were several blood marks on certain areas of the wall from previous prisoners from the past.

Edmund, who had strangely blacked out longer than Eris, awoke slowly as he heard voices coming from his left. He stayed there for a few moments, then the voices grew to shouting and he instantly sat up and looked over to see a big Minotaur. He was black in fur and had a whipping wire strapped around his brown belt and he wore a silver armour with a black crown pictured in the middle of his armour.

The creature was shouting down to a figure below him. He looked to see who it was, and his eyes widened when he realized it was Eris. She had a deep scowl on her face as she looked at the Minotaur and was sat straight with her back leaning firmly against the ancient ruddy wall

"You are a prisoner here! You have no right to talk to us prison guards like that you half breed!"

"And you have no right to throw us in a dungeon!" she spat back just as harshly

The Minotaur grew angry, he instantly reached out for his whipping leather strap when all of a sudden, a yell came out from his right side

"No!"

The Minotaur and Eris spun their heads and the girl's eyes widened in relief to see Edmund awake. Then the Minotaur chuckled

"Well, if it isn't the King Edmund the Just" he chuckled louder "Not so fierce are we now?"

Both Edmund and Eris glared at the creature.

"You better let us go or so help me" Edmund helplessly threatened. The Minotaur smiled mockingly at the King

"And what makes you think I'm gonna do that, _King_?"

Then there came a foreign voice from the large wooden door,

"Come on Apollo, we're supposed to be guarding the dungeons, not taunting the prisoners"

The Minotaur paused for a few moments, and then turned around instantly, knowing that the other prison guard was right and went off and fully locked the door as it was secured.

Eris sighed and Edmund tried to get up, but instantly fell flat faced on the cold hard ground. Eris crawled over to him and helped him up

"Ed, are you okay?" she asked, still feeling relieved that he was awake and very much alive.

Edmund nodded but frowned. Why had he fallen over? He looked down at his feet and then realized why. Both of his ankles were securely strapped with chains and the chain mail was attached to the wall which meant that they only had limited space to move around in, but luckily, he was able to reach Eris

"I know… its horrible being attached by chains…" Eris grumbled, knowing what Edmund was figuring out

Edmund shook his head with utter disbelief "Why has this happened? This can't be… it's all happened so fast that even_ I'm_ confused"

Eris reached a hand and rested it on Edmund's shoulder "I don't know, but we will figure this out Edmund, we _have_ to"

Edmund nodded, and then looked up at her with concern "Why was that Minotaur shouting at you?"

Eris scoffed "It was nothing really, I woke up and realized where I was, then that prison guard came in, he must have heard me and started taunting me, and of course, I shouted back, I mean, how dare he make fun of me and the people and country I love? I obviously got him so vexed that he hit m—"

Eris stopped abruptly at that, realizing what she was about to say. She was hoping that Edmund didn't hear it but judging by the look on his face, he did.

"Let me see" he said demandingly, yet, simply

"I didn't get hit!" Eris defended

Edmund gave her a little smile, "I didn't mention anything about you getting hit, but since you were the one who bought it up, you most certainly have been"

Eris bit her lip and looked down in defeat

"Eris, let me see" Edmund demanded

"No"

"Yes"

"No"

"Yes"

"No"

"Yes"

"No"

"No"

"Yes" Eris then realized what she said "Edmund!"

Edmund gave her a cheeky grin; then sobered as he remembered the topic of the conversation again.

"Come on Eris, you know I won't take no for an answer, now show me before I make you"

"Fine" Eris rolled up her sleeve up to her left bicep and revealed a green/purple bruise. Edmund gasped quietly to himself

"See, I told you it's nothing, bruises aren't painful for me, after all, I've experienced much worse than this. It's merely a flesh of colour" Eris said

"I guess it is, sorry I was worried that he wounded you"

"Don't be silly, I'm Eris, nothing happens to me" she said proudly

Edmund laughed a little at that, after all it was true. He suddenly scrunched his nose up. Eris saw the face and smiled a little "I know, it absolutely stinks of dead people in here"

The dungeon smelt of corpses and blood which wasn't really a good combination.

Eris then sighed and leaned back at a wall whilst looking up at the shredded ceiling, "Edmund, why are we here? Who is behind this? And how do we escape without our swords and weapons? I don't know what's going on, I've never felt so bewildered in all my 15 years" she sighed again and looked over at Edmund who still remained at his spot and looked at Eris with sympathy…or was it guilt

"Edmund?" she asked, getting concerned

Edmund was snapped out of his daze "What?"

"What are you thinking about?"

There was a pause and Edmund furrowed his eyebrows, while shaking his head slowly "This is all my fault…"

Eris sighed, knowing where this was going to lead up to "Edmund. Don't"

"It is!" he said, more loudly "It _is_ my fault! I should have swung my sword and stabbed them while I still could! I had a chance to protect you, the both of us, but I wasn't able to, and I should have!"

"Edmund! Stop blaming yourself, it isn't your fault! They crept up behind us, how were you supposed to know? Don't forget that I also had a sword in my hands as well"

Edmund remained quiet, his eyebrows still furrowed towards the ground "I just feel like it's all my fault we're here…now I know how Peter felt all those times before. He'd always blame himself for something that was completely irrelevant. Now I know what it feels like and it's horrible, but… it's true"

"Yeah and now you're beginning to become _worse_ than Peter. Stop blaming yourself. We were both helpless" she reached her hand out to rest on Edmund's lap "help will come our way, I promise" she kissed him on the lips. It was a small kiss but passionate.

They pulled apart and Edmund smiled "You have as much faith as Lucy does, that's one of the things I love about you"

Eris smiled back "Well, nothing can every beat Lucy the Valiant"

They both leaned back against the wall again, while sitting close to each other to keep warm. All they had left was hope.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()

_At Cair Paravel…_

It was the morning and everyone was present at the dining table…except two people.

Peter sighed. He'd been waiting patiently as Caspian, Susan, Lucy and the others did for Edmund to be up as well as Eris

"What is taking them so long, Ed has never been this late to breakfast, it's been approximately 13 minutes now" Peter huffed as he continued waiting

Lucy shifted on her seat, trying to get more comfortable whilst waiting "I know, Eris has never been this late either"

"Despite her being an extremely heavy sleeper" Susan added both her and Caspian smiled as they shared loving glances at each other.

Suddenly, Peter abruptly set his cup of freshly squeezed juice on the table with impatience "Right that's it, I'm calling someone to look for them" as he said this, a young timid faun walked towards Peter while maintaining his fast pace

"My king, should I go up and wake the majesty and the girl?"

"Yes. Thank you, and be sure to let Edmund know that I'm not happy about his late comings"

"Certainly my king" the faun said as he quickly darted out of the door.

Peter sighed angrily and sat back further in his chair. Definitely not kingly-like. Susan pursed her lips as an awkward silence invaded the room. Caspian fidgeted with his black tunic, occasionally eyeing Peter's serious look, which nowadays, you'd see rarely

Lucy, being her cheery old self, decided to speak up "You aren't _that_ angry at Edmund are you Peter? You remind me of my Latin teacher back in England, whenever someone appears late to her lessons, she becomes the next Godzilla!" Both Susan and Peter laughed and smiled at the memories of England. Caspian however, raised an eyebrow at the monarchs but shrugged it off nonetheless

"Well, I guess I don't blame that teacher, its annoying having to wait for someone when you're impatient" Peter said

Susan scoffed, "I think the only impatient person in the room is you Peter" Lucy giggled while Peter smiled in defeat.

"Peter, I think you should give them more time, I'm sure there's a reason for this" Caspian said

The food was cold now and Peter was growing angrier and more impatient by the minute.

5 minutes had passed and the Pevensie's were all in their own world by the time. Suddenly, the faun barged into the dining room with fear flashing in his face. Peter frowned in concern

"What happened? Why aren't they here yet? I specifically told you to wake up Eris and my brother" Peter demanded, using his 'High-King-Peter' tone. Susan, Caspian and Lucy looked at the faun's worried gaze

"B-but that's the problem! They aren't in their bed chambers! I've looked everywhere and even sent some of our panthers to search the whole palace, they still weren't found anywhere!"

They four monarchs gasped, "That's why we had to wait so long! Edmund and Eris are nowhere to be seen!" Susan realized.

Peter, with his wide eyes, took action straight away, "I'm going to see for myself" as he quickly ran out the wide doors and made for Eris's room first. Caspian, Susan and Lucy quickly followed him

Her bedchamber door was already open, so he stepped inside, along with Lucy and Susan. Her bed was neatly made and nothing seemed suspicious.

"It looks as if she hadn't even slept here at all" Lucy said eyeing the ready made bed

"No" Peter said with a low voice "Perhaps she was in Ed's room" he and Caspian turned and headed next door to Edmund's bed chamber. Lucy and Susan caught up to them.

The four gasped as they took in the sight of the battered room. The bed was a mess, the floor showed muddy footsteps of the soldiers who intruded into the room and it was headed outside of the balcony.

Caspian followed it and he found himself in Edmund's balcony "Someone had come in here late at night and kidnapped both your brother and Eris" he said through clenched teeth. He was already growing angry at the situation. How could this have happened?

Lucy suddenly gasped and Peter and Caspian spun round and saw Lucy horrifically eyeing a broken vase which was destroyed into little pieces on the floor with a deep red arrow on it

Susan kneeled down and examined it "It's the vase that Lord Caleb from Ettinsmoor gave to Edmund as a special gift….it…it's ruined"

By now, Lucy's eyes sparkled with upcoming tears as she looked up at Peter, "Oh Peter, both of them are gone and we don't know who did this and where they've been taken" she looked helplessly at Peter

Peter shook his head in disbelief of the situation; he turned round to face the open balcony which contained the obvious muddy footsteps

"No. We don't. But I have a fairly good idea as to who did this" he narrowed his eyes

Susan and Lucy glanced at each other and then at Peter.

Then Susan and Caspian both gasped as they both realized who Peter meant "It can't be…" Susan said disbelievingly

Lucy turned to look at Susan questioningly "Susan, who—"

"Queen Janet" Susan said, already answering her question even though she hadn't finished saying it

"And that Pesky no good Darreth" Caspian said in a low voice

Lucy's eyes grew wide.

Peter, after moments of thinking, turned around to face the girls "Well, it looks like _we_ are going on a little trip over to the north"

Caspian nodded his head "absolutely, Aslan knows what condition they could be in now"

"I'm sure they are fine for the time being, after all they both always carry their swords everywhere they go in case of situations like this" Peter reassured

"Actually…" Susan said, catching both Caspian and Peter's attention. Caspian gasped and Peter's eyes grew wide as they stared at Susan holding three swords in her hands. Two of Edmund's swords and one of Eris's.

"This can't be!" Lucy said, bursting into tears, "I know them, something utterly horrible must have happened if both of them are now weapon less, they would never leave _anywhere_ without their weapons" Susan hugged her crying little sister and whispered words of comfort in order to make her stop crying.

Caspian turned to Peter "We must take all of our well armed soldiers with us; they are bound to fight against us if we are to travel over to the place where Edmund and Eris are imprisoned"

Peter nodded, and then frowned, "how would you know if they are held prisoners?"

"It's fairly obvious Peter, what else are they gonna do with them?"

Peter nodded again, for he had a point. "We need to take action _now_"

The four king and queens looked at Peter

"Now?" Lucy sniffed, her crying eased already

"Yes, they could be in danger now! We need to act quickly before….before…it's too late" Peter said the last three words quietly while looking down in fear. Fear for his brother and to Eris.

Caspian looked at Susan and Lucy "Peter's right, the sooner we are ready, the better chance we have at rescuing our king and Eris"

Susan and Lucy nodded with agreement. "Well in that case" Susan began "we should get our suit of armour ready, come on Luce" she held her hand out to Lucy which she gladly took and the both of them left the room to get ready into their armory.

When the two girls left, Caspian turned to Peter who already had red eyes. He was silently crying

"Peter?" Caspian asked, he'd never seen Peter like this before.

Peter quickly shrugged it off "Don't worry about me, there's no time, we need to save them"

Caspian paused before asking the next question "Is Lucy going to come as well?"

Peter paused and looked at Caspian, "Of course" he said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world "Why?"

"Well, because…she….isn't she too young to be going with us? I'm just wondering because I feel that it's too dangerous for a girl her age to go on a dangerous journey like this"

"Caspian… we have lived as adults before, and Lucy has experience with this kind of situation. Yes she may look young, we all do, but our years of training hadn't left us. We are just as skilled as we once were during the golden age and she's just as capable of coming with us"

Caspian nodded

"And don't forget" Peter started, catching the other king's attention again, "If one of us was to be wounded, Lucy will come to our aid and she's also good with the dagger, although she won't be fighting in the battles with us; if there actually _will be_ a battle that is"

"I apologize Peter; I keep forgetting that you all lived as adults and are now reliving your lives…. somehow"

Peter chuckled, despite his still red eyes "We should go now, we have to get into our armors, and we have to take these as well" he said as he picked up the three swords which Susan put on Edmund's bed "They're definitely gonna need this"

()()()()()()()()()()()

Eris and Edmund had fallen asleep after realizing they were thrown into a dungeon. But soon, there came a cracking sound coming from the door and that caused the two teens to wake up all of a sudden.

Eris felt nervous for the first time since years ago as she knew the door was going to open.

The door was suddenly open and the person that came in was none other than Janet. She wore a crimson red gown that hid her feet and trailed off in the ground behind her and she had a cheeky smile on her face which made Edmund and Eris frown in anger.

Deep down, Edmund knew it was her, he knew she wasn't a good person to begin with, especially how she talked to Peter the other day at the party.

The old woman laughed before them.

"Looks like you're not so superior now, look at yourselves! You are now under my control, no one will ever help you escape" this was mostly intended on Edmund and he was raging inside

"You're wrong! Peter _will_ come, and I will make sure you'll be the first person he kills!" Edmund snapped, his anger getting the best of him

"You keep saying that child, but I have my plans, and lets just say it involves death" she sneered as evilly as she could

Eris scoffed, "If you're trying to be intimidating, you're failing"

The witch stiffened and looked at Eris disapprovingly, "I'd watch that mouth of yours you ungrateful half breed!"

Edmund clenched his hands, "You dare say that to her again, I will—"

"Oh _do_ tell me what you will do Edmund, this should be fun, seeing as you are chained by your feet" the witch smiled mockingly

Edmund sighed, '_Oh well done Ed'_, he thought to himself

Eris glanced at him "It's okay Edmund, words never offend me" she whispered to him

Edmund glanced back at her and gave her a reassuring smile

"Apollo!" The old woman shouted. The guard from earlier hurried into the death smelling dungeon and bowed before his queen

"My Queen" he said whilst bowing down

She turned over to Eris, and whispered "You know what to do"

The guard nodded and pulled out his leather rope from his belt and quickly went over to where Eris was sat.

Eris knew what was coming, but kept her frown on nonetheless; she showed no fear whatsoever.

Edmund's eyes grew wide "No!" he quickly made to cover Eris up to protect her from the slashes but Janet pulled him back and forced him to look at the scene.

Apollo pulled back his arm and bought it back down on Eris's right thigh with a painful whip. The girl winced violently and squeezed her eyes tight.

Edmund's eyes began to water, watching was more painful than experiencing; he could almost feel the intensity on himself. He was desperate to pull free, but Janet's hold on him was too strong.

The guard repeated the same action on her right thigh again and again. Eris still made no noise, however she was in deep pain. Her right thigh was buzzing and it began to feel numb, she winced terribly at each strike and her eyes were watering. She continued to squeeze her eyes shut and didn't plan on opening them anytime soon.

Janet had a superior smile on her face, this was fun for her to watch but annoying as the King under her hold was yelling and thrashing to be set free and for the guard to stop. Fortunately for Janet, she could see the girl was in pain and motioned for the guard to stop, and he obeyed at once.

She let go of Edmund "Thank you Apollo, you may now proceed in guarding the door again" she said

Janet walked towards the door and turned back at the two teens "Like I said, you shall never see the light of day again", she looked at Eris,"and what just happened was nothing dear little Eris, I will give you both a slow and painful death that will cause you both to be begging on your knees for mercy" with that she left and locked the door.

Eris sighed, she was exhausted and her thigh was still buzzing with the slashes she got. She closed her eyes as she was glad it was over. '_Aslan that was horrible'_, she thought to herself

She felt two arms wrapped around her shoulders. She opened her eyes to see Edmund with his head leaning on her shoulder. She hugged him back.

"I'm so sorry" Edmund choked out. He was obviously crying and Eris sighed

"Edmund, don't even think about saying that this was your fault. It wasn't, and whatever Janet said is not true, I know Aslan will save us, I just know"

Edmund let go and looked down at Eris's thigh, then he looked at Eris's light chocolate eyes, "I have to see"

Without arguing back, Eris pulled her pants up from her feet, up to her thigh, exposing her pale right thigh. Edmund hissed. It was red and was covered in red whip marks but luckily it wasn't bleeding

"The pain's going away now" Eris said, hoping that it would at least make Edmund feel a little better, and it was true. Her thigh was still painful but not as severe as it was moments ago.

"You sure you're not just saying that Eris?" Edmund asked

"Of course Edmund, I never lie and you know that"

Edmund sighed and leaned against the grey ruddy wall and Eris pushed her pants back down to her ankle.

"I wonder what Peter and the others are doing right now" Edmund said, more to himself than to Eris.

Eris was thinking the same thing, but more towards Susan and Lucy. She smiled a little bit as her pain on her thigh continued to decrease. She had to stay strong, she had to. Not for herself, but for Edmund, the others, her people and for the great lion himself.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

_At the meeting…_

The three Pevensie's and Caspian were all changed into their armory and they were all finally present at the meeting along with all the other Narnians and their generals.

They were all surrounded on a table which lay a big map containing every country in Narnia.

Peter pointed to an area on the map which read "The North"

"Therefore, we have all come to a conclusion that they have been kidnapped to the North of Narnia under Janet's hold"

Peter concluded, after telling the Narnians of what they had witnessed in Edmund's room and about the footsteps that they had found

Lucy, who was beside Peter, nudged him on the hip. Peter looked down at Lucy and she gave him a warning look. Peter was confused for a minute but then remembered as he realized what he forgot to say. He cleared his throat

"Sorry, I meant 'Queen' Janet"

General Haddon, who was Peter, Edmund and Eris's sword instructor looked up at Peter

"Your majesty, you seem so sure that this is definitely where you think they'd been taken to, what if they were to be taken somewhere else?"

Peter looked at his general. He didn't have an answer to that. He just knew. But if he were to say that, it would be less reliable for people to agree with him. Luckily Caspian came to his rescue

"General, I can see what you are trying to say, but The North is where Queen Janet and Prince Darreth are from and if you don't remember, Prince Darreth committed a very serious and dangerous crime and Queen Janet wasn't too happy about King Peter's sentencing. Thus, it would mean that Queen Janet must have done revenge on us by kidnapping King Edmund and Eris which is surely to give the King and Queens of Narnia a rough time seeing as we don't know what they're going through right this minute as we speak"

Caspian finished. He was quite surprized as Peter and the others were, that he actually proved a point. Not only did General Haddon conform but the whole of Narnia understood and were now fully determined to save their King and Eris. Peter smiled and nodded his thanks to Caspian which he returned with a smile of his own.

Susan stood beside Caspian and clasped his hand. She looked at Caspian and then back at the Narnian crowd

"It is because of this that we have to act quickly. For we don't know what dangers they could be in" she said clearly

Peter added "So we are to get all of our troops and soldiers because after our last meal, we are going to begin our travel. We need you all to be well prepared and ready. May Aslan bless us and guide us to our freedom of our friend and our brother"

With that, all the Narnians cheered with determination while some where praying for the Great Lion's help and support.

Peter continued smiling, showing his regal side as Lucy, Susan and Caspian did as well.

But deep down, Peter's heart was ripping

_Please Aslan, please let my brother be okay, please help Eris too. We need your help, please Aslan, we need you… I need you_

* * *

**Please review and tell me what you think so far. It looks like Edmund's got the 'guilt-disease' haha. I hope you liked it. Chapter 10 is on our way yay :)**


	10. V1: Faith is vital

**Chapter 10 **

**Thanks for the reviews, I appreciate the support, here's a new chapter for you all, I hope you like it **

**Disclaimer: Sadly I don't own this, but I do own this Jaffa Cake that I have right now... yum!**

* * *

The Monarchs and the Narnians had had their last evening meal together before setting off. The sun was on its way to setting and everyone was getting ready for their journey ahead.

Susan got on the horse without any difficulty while Caspian helped Lucy get on the horse so she sat behind Susan.

Lucy looked back at Caspian "Thank you"

"It's my pleasure Lucy" Caspian said. He eyed Susan with a reassuring smile; he could tell Susan was worried. He reached out a hand so it rested on her lap – seeing as he was on the ground and Susan was high up on the horse, he could only reach up to her lap – and said caringly "Are you gonna be okay?"

Susan nodded with a grateful smile "Of course Caspian, I should be the one asking you that"

"You need not worry about me Susan"

Susan chuckled under her breath. She looked up and caught sight of a fed up Peter "I think you should be getting back to your stallion, Peter doesn't look too happy"

Caspian turned to look at the same direction "You're right, I guess I should be going back. Take care Susan, and you too Lucy"

Lucy giggled, "You're acting like you'll never see us again Caspian, we'll be riding right behind you and Peter. It's going to be fine, we just need to have faith in Aslan and we'll be alright" she assured

Caspian laughed "I guess I am, sorry" he looked back at Peter, then back at the Pevensie sisters and then turned to go to his horse where Peter was stood.

Peter caught sight of Caspian at the corner of his eye, "Caspian there you are, you're late, get ready quickly, we've not got much time to lose"

Caspian could see that he was clearly stressed. He put a hand on his shoulder "Peter it's going to be okay, you're thinking too much, it's not healthy, you need to be focused because being distracted won't help"

Peter looked back at Caspian, shocked at the words that flowed out his mouth because it was so…very true

He nodded, realizing that Caspian had a point "You're right Caspian, distraction won't do us any good, I'm just worried about my brother and to Eris as well, what if they're being tortured…or...or even worse!"

Caspian shook his head slowly and released his hold on Peter's shoulder "only Aslan knows what's happened to them. Stop thinking negatively, that's the last thing we all need in a situation like this"

"I guess it is" Peter said before mounting on his horse along with Caspian.

Peter looked back and saw a big impressive amount of the Narnian soldiers. General Haddon was next to Peter on his left, and Caspian on his right and his sisters were behind them along with the Narnian troops.

He felt confident. They were going to succeed this. He just needed to pray for Aslan's help and maybe, things will get back to normal

Peter heard his general trotting up towards him so he craned his neck to see him standing beside him

"Your majesty, we are all ready, when shall we begin?" the general said

"Well if we are all ready, we'd best begin now, there's not a moment to lose" he looked towards Caspian and the dark haired king nodded in agreement.

There were several centaur guards scattered in front of the monarchs and Peter was thankful that his followers were very loyal

He grabbed the reins of his horse along with the others and they began their travel. It was quite a silent trip apart from the fact that the Pevensie sisters were talking to each other from behind to lighten up their moods.

The sky was already turning a light shade of orangey pink as the sun was beginning to set and soon they would have to call it a night as Caspian could already inhale cool air

Peter on the other hand, sighed to himself. He still felt guilty. How hadn't he heard the noises? How could he have not saved them? He was meant to be the responsible one, the one who protects his loved ones, especially when it came to Edmund.

He shook his head lightly to get rid of the guilt. He remembered a time when Aslan told him not to think negative as it could lead to worse things just like Caspian said before.

After a few minutes, he looked at his surroundings and he frowned. They were going too slow.

"General Haddon, oughtn't we to pick the pace up a little?" Peter asked

"Your majesty, that will not do, we are a big crowd and we would make a lot of noise which isn't good my king, because this will attract unwanted attention"

Peters frown stayed. He looked back at the big army behind. The general was right. Perhaps we do need to shorten it…or split up

* * *

_At the dungeons…_

"Edmund did you hear that?" Eris asked, she thought she heard a sound of heavy doors banging open.

Edmund stiffened so he could hear whatever it was that Eris heard.

"No, I don't hear anything"

"Shh, no listen" she whispered.

Then the dungeon doors opened with a bang and two guards threw a creature into the room. Eris looked in time to see that it was a faun.

The creature flew across the room and banged into the hard wall - since the guards threw him heavily - and he became unconscious. The guards spat curses and unnecessary insults at the unmoving form

Eris and Edmund sat there with shocked expressions.

The guards didn't even bother tying up the Faun; instead they just left him there until he awoke. They cackled grimly and resumed back to their job

When they locked the doors again, Edmund didn't hesitate in crawling towards the limp creature. The faun's face couldn't be seen as it was faced to the wall from where he banged his head so neither Eris nor Edmund could see what the creature looked like

Edmund suddenly fell face flat on the floor…again

"Edmund?" Eris said concerned

"'m fine" he muttered, before getting back up again. He frowned and huffed and looked back at Eris behind him while maintaining the crawling position

"I can't reach him; my chain mails only let me go this far, do you think you could reach him?"

Eris nodded and crawled over to the limp faun, barely just reaching him. She grabbed hold of his arms and dragged him closer towards her without any difficulty.

"Is he alright?" Edmund asked, moving closer while eyeing the faun.

"Well I hope so, he _did_ have a pretty gruesome bang on the—"then she gasped

Edmund looked at Eris with an alarming expression "Eris?" the girl looked at the faun with wide eyes and her mouth was opened slightly. Edmund furrowed his eyebrows

"Eris?" he asked again, but louder, trying to catch the girl's attention

There was a pause. Then, with what seemed to be like decades, Eris finally spoke up

"Finn?"

She couldn't believe this. She turned his limp neck, so that she can clearly look to see if it was really who she thought he was, and she was definite that this was the very same faun which she met over a month ago. She still remembered his big curly ginger hair and his eyes….oh his eyes, she loved them; they were glossy green, and his smile was most endearing

Even though she'd only met him once on that very same day in which he was lost looking for his mother, Finn was Eris's first real friend.

She was shocked that he was here… in the dungeons.

He was completely limp and unmoving, his green eyes were covered by his lids and he was securely wrapped in Eris's arms and she looked down at him. She noted how he looked exactly the same as the last time she saw him.

"Eris? Do you know him?" Edmund asked, seeing how the young faun was held comfortingly in Eris's arms and also seeing how Eris looked at him with recognition and horror as if she known him for years.

She looked up at Edmund with a sympathetic look

"Yes" Eris said quietly, _he was my first real friend _"I met him on the day he was lost, I was in a forest and I'd just finished sword practice. It was getting dark so I looked around for woods to make a fire. Then he came to me and he was crying, he told me that he was lost and he couldn't find his mother, so I helped him, and in the end, he found his mother and I couldn't have been happier" she smiled at the memory

Edmund smiled too, but then he frowned in confusion. He crawled closer towards Eris "But why is he here?"

Eris looked back down at the helpless timid faun, "I don't know, this was unexpected, especially for a young faun like him… so very young, I mean he's only 7!"

Edmund sensed that Eris was feeling worried

"Eris" she looked up at the dark haired boy "He'll be alright, it's just a slight concussion, hopefully with Aslan's aid, he'll be fine" he smiled warmly "and I think we should sleep, we're gonna need some rest, and hopefully we won't get interrupted" he rolled his eyes, referring to earlier

Eris laughed; she laid Finn on the floor beside her and smiled warmly at Edmund "Thanks Edmund, you always know how to make me feel better" she kissed him lightly on the lips before the both of them laid down on the rough floor

"Don't I always?" Edmund joked

"Shut up" she playfully smacked him on the arm whilst the both of them were lying on the solid ground

"I love you" she said, making it up for the smack

"I love me too"

"Edmund…"

"Sorry" he smiled "I love you too Eris"

and soon they drifted off into a deep sleep albeit it was very uncomfortable just lying there with no sheets or soft velvet pillows especially for Eris as she found it quite painful leaning on her recently whipped right thigh, but slept nonetheless.

Both Edmund and Eris's tunics were already getting wrinkly and at some parts, ripped and the colours were already beginning to fade a little and their ankles were getting raw and sore from the chains, but they fought through the pain. After all, they had Aslan to look up to

* * *

The sun peaked through the sky and Peter fluttered his eyes open. He took in his surroundings and everything came back to him as he took a moment to register how he got here

They had slept the night in a wide forest, just big enough to fit every one. Susan and Lucy were sleeping on his right hand side peacefully and Caspian was on the other side but quite far off.

He slowly lifted himself up and found that some of the soldiers were already up and murmuring to themselves so they wouldn't wake up the monarchs.

Peter looked around and frowned to himself. He remembered last night and how there were too many troops. He cursed to himself; he should have cut the numbers shorter when they were in Cair Paravel. Now he had to think of a way to split them up. He groaned quietly to himself before he stood up and made his way to the lake to wash his face

It was a couple of minutes later when he came back to see his sisters and Caspian awake and ready. Susan caught sight of him along with Lucy and smiled.

"Good morning Peter" Susan said

"Good morning Su"

"Did you sleep well?" Lucy asked

Everyone paused and Lucy was confused for a moment, then her eyes widened as she realized why

"Oh Peter I'm sorry! I didn't mean to remind you of the kidnapping"

Peter chuckled wholeheartedly "It's fine Lucy, there's no need for apologies" he ruffled her hair to support the fact that he was okay and Lucy scowled as she put her already messed up hair back into place.

Caspian stood up "When shall we continue our travel Peter?"

"After breakfast" and just in good timing, a dryad came towards the monarchs. Everyone turned to look at her as she came noisily over to them

"Your majesties" she bowed "breakfast is ready if you want to have some"

Lucy smiled "Without a doubt yes!" everyone laughed as they showed up for breakfast. It wasn't much. After all, they had to store as much food as they possibly can

During breakfast, Peter had come up with a way to shorten the amount of Narnian troops. So as they finished breakfast, Peter stood up

"Narnians, I would like to thank you all for this meal, it wasn't substantial but it's better as we will be needing to save as much food as we can for survival of this travel thanks to our friend's help" he looked at everyone and they had big brave smiles on their faces. The Pevensie sisters and Caspian and general Haddon had proud smiles on their faces, "we still have a long way to go" he continued, "however, I have noted from last night that we have a vast amount of us warriors and we can't continue like that"

There were several murmurs from the crowd and his sisters and Caspian held confusion in their faces, but otherwise, kept quiet. Peter waited for the crowd to be silent.

"It will be dangerous if we traveled as a big pack as this will cause a lot of noise and that will catch attention which is the last thing we need" some members of the crowd nodded their heads as they understood what the high king was getting at

"I have come to a recommendation to make this rescue more effective" he paused before continuing, "We have to split up" as he said this, the crowd began to murmur again except much louder this time and Susan and Lucy furrowed their eyebrows

"What?" Susan said

"Peter why?" Lucy asked

Peter sighed "Didn't you hear what said Lu?"

General Haddon stepped up, he noted King Peter's stress lately, not to mention the fact that he just found out his brother had been kidnapped along with his friend

"Queen Lucy, what your royal brother is suggesting is quite evidently right, if we continue to travel as a big group that will cause a bad impact, I'm afraid to say this, but we have no choice but to stick to this plan, it's for our own good and to your royal brother King Edmund and Eris"

Lucy nodded in realization as did Caspian and Susan.

Peter silently thanked his general before continuing his speech "It is with no choice that I shall split us in two groups. One group will go north-east towards Queen Janet's palace and the other group will travel straight ahead north where they will prevent soldiers from coming their way. This will save much more time and lives as well. General Haddon along with Queens Susan and Lucy and half of our Narnian soldiers will travel straight ahead towards The North where they shall keep a close eye on any Northern soldiers. They shall kill them instantly so it prevents further danger"

Peter was relieved when Susan and Lucy seemed okay with the idea; they were still worried but otherwise they were still content with the scheme as they knew it was for the best

"I along with Caspian and the other half of our troops will travel north-east where we will be located in the palace where the dungeons are held, I will not say that we won't face war as that will be very unlikely, but I _will_ say that we will be well prepared, you never know where danger could occur, I apologize if this was an unexpected change, but we have no choice and we hope it doesn't cause any inconvenience, in the mean time, we continue to pray for the mighty Aslan, and to hope that he will give us the aid and help we need. May the lion guide us all" he finished with a sigh and the crowd cheered optimistically.

General Haddon patted him on the shoulder "That was well done my king"

"Thank you general"

Susan and Lucy along with Caspian stood up and looked at Peter

"Peter, are you sure it will work this way?" Lucy asked

Peter smiled lightly, hoping it would hide his distress for his lost brother. He leaned lower and grabbed hold of Lucy's upper arm "Lucy, I need you to understand something" he was eye level with Lucy and he looked deep into her eye. He would do this kind of thing when he was serious. Lucy nodded slowly and Peter continued, "I won't say that we will succeed this, but I will say that if we have enough faith in Aslan and enough pride, we can maybe succeed this and I will make sure that both me and Caspian will get Eris and Edmund back to safety. All we need is faith, remember that"

Lucy nodded and smiled softly before hugging Peter tightly "We're gonna have to split up now arent we…" Lucy's muffled voice said, it wasn't a question but merely a true statement

Peter closed his eyes, he didn't want to do this in the first place, but he learned that sometimes life isn't fair and there will be times where we are gonna have to do things that we don't want.

Lucy took Peter's silence as a yes. She hugged tighter and Peter held on just as much.

He felt a hand on his shoulder and he looked up to see Susan. Peter smiled to lift off the tension and he raised his right arm over to her and she joined in. Soon, all three Pevensies were in an emotional embrace. The worst part of it was that they never knew if they would have another embrace like this after tomorrow so they held on with all their might

Caspian took in the sight of the siblings and it tore in his heart strings. He swallowed the lump forming in his throat and he tried to remain strong.

The Pevensie's slowly broke their embrace and they smiled softly to one another. Peter slowly turned and walked towards the General

"General, I am counting on you to arrange the groups; will you do that for me?"

The general bowed his head, being a centaur you couldn't bow with the whole of your body, "Of course your majesty"

"Thank you" Peter said appreciatively

Lucy, who was standing next to Susan, ran and hugged Caspian which gave him a startle, but soon he sobered and he found himself hugging Lucy. They stayed like that for a while until Lucy pulled apart slowly

"Take care Caspian, and make sure that Peter doesn't do his 'hero' act"

Caspian furrowed his eyebrows with an amused face "'hero' act?"

Lucy chuckled "Yeah, you may find that Peter has a thing with risking his life for people. Please make sure he doesn't do anything extreme"

Caspian nodded while laughing, the statement was very true "I will do anything for my country and for Eris and Edmund's freedom. And Lucy, stay out of trouble and never leave Susan's side" he could hear Susan laughing from somewhere beside him. He looked up to see Susan nearby.

He slowly stood up and walked towards his Susan. Caspian couldn't imagine a better picture. Her beautiful milky skin stood out, her lips were naturally rouged and her blue eyes sparkled as she was silently crying. He lifted a hand to caress her cheek

"Susan" he said quietly. The second oldest Pevensie girl didn't hesitate to hug Caspian. Caspian embraced her tightly and Susan squeezed her eyes shut, forcing back her tears

"Caspian please be careful out there" Susan's shaky voice said. Caspian rubbed her back soothingly

"You will never lose me Susan, I should be the one telling you to be careful, so be careful or else I will get an obese gryphon to sit on your head"

Susan laughed and let go of Caspian and saw an equally amused smile on his face.

"I love you Caspian"

"And I you Susan" he smiled wider, as he saw the happy sparkle in Susan's bright eyes. He could tell a lot by Susan's eyes, he always knew whenever something was troubling her or if she was angry or upset. But right now, she was happy, and that made Caspian happy too.

He turned and found that Peter's general had grouped all the warriors into their groups and it was time for them to continue their separate travels. Caspian sighed and walked over to where Peter was stood next to their horses.

Peter sighed next to him "It's time"

As he said this Susan and Lucy mounted on the same horse and were ready to leave. Both Caspian and Peter walked towards them to say their farewells

"Be careful Susan, and you too Lucy, remember I love you and Aslan will be with us no matter what, stay safe" Peter said while grasping both Susan and Lucy's hand in his own

"Don't worry Peter, we will, you stay safe too" Susan said and Peter smiled and nodded

Caspian gave Susan and Lucy a smile "Stay safe Lucy and Susan" he said again before the girls smiled and said farewell

Peter and Caspian watched as the Queens took off with their horse with General Haddon by their side, and soon they were out of sight. Peter sighed again and Caspian turned to look at the distressed king

"It'll be okay Peter" he reassured

"I'm not worrying Caspian, Aslan is with them, as he is with us and Edmund" with that, he turned around and mounted on his horse, he looked back at Caspian who hadn't moved from his spot "Are you coming?"

Caspian was interrupted from his daze; he looked up at Peter and noticed he was already on his horse "Oh... yes" he quickly went and mounted on his own black stallion "Should we take off Peter?"

"Yes we should, the sooner we begin the sooner we can resolve this" he said optimistically. He adjusted the reins of his horse as Caspian did as well and they headed off. The Narnian troops followed closely behind occasionally looking side to side for any upcoming danger

The sun was already set high in the sky indicating that it was midday. Their day was going to be a long one indeed…

* * *

**Revieeewww! Goodness, it seems like Peter's getting depressed... or guilty more like *gasp*I hope you liked this chapter, and don't forget to review and tell me what you think**


	11. V1: Hold on brother

**Chapter 11 :)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own The Chronicles of Narnia, C.S. Lewis beat me to it**

* * *

Edmund woke up with a startle as the doors opened loudly. If there was one thing he learned from this dungeon it's the fact that the doors had an annoying creaking sound that will almost make your ears bleed

Janet walked in with the dungeon guards behind her as usual. She wore a black strapless dress which covered her feet. The collar had a silver outline and it was quite low that you can almost see the outline of her chest.

It was a disgusting sight for Edmund. She had very wrinkly skin and was very chubby that he thought that the dress would rip. Her face was heavily made up that you could easily see the difference between the skin tone on her arms, and the skin tone on her face.

She had a menacing smile on her face as she looked at Edmund

Edmund looked to his left and noticed that Eris was still asleep while facing the wall. He looked further left to see that the little faun was still unconscious. He was the only one awake since Eris was such a heavy sleeper.

He looked back at Janet and narrowed his eyes. She was up to something

She moved closer to the dark haired boy "Our palace is holding out a party" she said while smiling cruelly, she moved even closer to Edmund "And I'm gonna be needing _you_"

Edmund was shocked, thus narrowed his eyes again "What for?" he growled

Her eyebrows lifted up while she smiled, giving Edmund the look that showed how obviously stupid he was

She grasped Edmund's upper arm dangerously tight which made Edmund howl lightly.

Before the woman could continue, Eris started to stir beside Edmund. She opened her eyes while she covered her mouth from a yawn and slowly sat up

She looked at Edmund and noticed he already awake, "Edmund what are you—" then she gasped as she took in the sight of the evil woman with the two prison guards behind her as she was grasping Edmund's upper arm. She could tell Edmund was in pain from Janet's grip.

She glared at the woman as she began laughing demonically.

She sobered quickly and looked at Edmund again "I need you to be an entertainer at the party for the party guests"

Both Edmund and Eris held questioning glances at each other

"An entertainer? What exactly do I have to do to entertain?" Edmund asked

"You stupid boy" Janet muttered "I'm not worth wasting my time explaining. You'll see"

"Don't you dare call the King of Narnia stupid" Eris snarled. Janet looked at Eris disapprovingly. She leaned her face dangerously close to the young girl's

"You are very lucky that we're having a homecoming party tonight, or else I would've given you a beating that will lead you to a slow and painful death" she threatened

This time, Edmund was the one who spoke up "If you dare lay a finger on her, you'll have to go through me first"

"Is that so?" Janet mocked "Well I guess it's two for the price of one" she laughed black-heartedly. She tightened her grasp on Edmund which made the boy whimper. Eris intensified her glare on the woman.

"You're coming with me" Janet said to Edmund one last time before she motioned for the guards to unlock the chain on his feet. Once that was done, she hauled Edmund up so he was standing on his feet. At first he wobbled a bit as he was used to crawling ever since he got here in the dungeons, but soon he regained his balance.

Eris was anxious at the idea that Edmund was in Janet's hands. He had no weapon to defend himself and she didn't know what exactly she was going to do seeing as she just woke up. But she hoped 'entertaining' didn't have anything to do with hurting him physically or mentally

Janet pulled Edmund behind her as she turned to leave

Edmund craned his neck round to look at Eris, he gave her a reassuring look to say _'It's gonna be okay'_

Eris nodded and smiled lightly, she couldn't control the tears that welled up in her eyes, after all she didn't know if this would be the last time she'd see Edmund.

They were soon out of sight and the guards laughed at the girl

"Looks like your knight and shining armour isn't here to defend you" Apollo teased

Eris glared at the prison guard but said nothing. The other prison whispered something in Apollo's ear and then he went back to guarding the prison doors just in case.

Apollo continued staring at the girl and then looked towards the helpless faun. The black-furred Minotaur mumbled something in his breath and quickly walked out.

Before Eris could sigh with relief, she stifled back a groan as the Minotaur re-entered the room, except he was holding chains in his arms. It was old and rusty but very strong and unbreakable just like Eris's was

He knelt by the faun and seized the child's left hoof with a fierce grip, this didn't go unnoticed by Eris and she frowned with anger

"Watch it, you're holding him too tight you big oaf" she spat with hatred hinted at every word

Apollo stopped what he was doing and looked at the girl sitting not far from him; he growled menacingly to her "You're quite the witty one aren't you? I've never dealt with anyone that's just as bad mouthed as you are, perhaps I should kill you and get it over with, after all no one is going to save you here" he threatened before proceeding in chaining up the faun's ankles

"I have enough faith in Aslan unlike you beasts, you should be ashamed of yourselves you savage monster"

The Minotaur finished chaining up the faun and stood up with anger. He wasn't going to let some girl insult him and get away with it. He instantly went for his whip when the prison guard from the other door called to him

"Apollo you can't, don't you remember? She's still needed by Queen Janet for important circumstances" he said

Apollo instantly huffed realizing that the other prison guard was right and walked off and secured the dungeon door tight. Eris wondered why this Minotaur wanted to harm people so much; maybe he was a heartless person anyway

She just hoped that Edmund was okay. She sighed and slumped against the wall further. How did it all come to this? Would Aslan ever save her and the Monarchs and not to mention Narnia itself?

She had never seen the great lion before in her life but she held just as much faith as Lucy did. Her train of thought was interrupted when Finn started groaning across from Eris. His head was moving slowly and he was frowning while maintaining his closed eye lids.

Eris's eyes went wide for a moment before she crawled closer to where the little Faun lay. She was relieved when she found out that the chain on her ankle was long enough for her to reach Finn, she picked up the little faun until he was secured once again in Eris's arms.

He groaned again before he fluttered his eyes open slowly. It took him a minute to work out his surroundings. Eris smiled in relief. Finally he was awake

Suddenly the faun's green eyes went big before he struggled to get out of the girl's hold. Eris didn't let him go; she kept her grip on the faun "Easy there, its okay Finn you're safe with me"

Finn stopped moving all of a sudden "W-Who are you? How do you know my name? Where am I?"

"Shhh" Eris encouraged

He lay there in her arms in silence just looking at the girl above him before Eris began again

"Finn, it's me Eris. Don't you remember me?"

The faun narrowed his eyes a little bit as he was deep in thought. Eris was nervous, what if he didn't remember her? The silence and the tension was killing her.

"Oh! Oh I can't be! You're the girl who helped me find Mommy a long time ago aren't you!" The Faun said gleefully

Eris smiled with relief and amusement and nodded "I am, oh I'm so glad you remember!"

"I'm happy to see you again, I was afraid I wasn't, it's been such a long time" Finn sounded relieved just as Eris was, he smiled up at the girl

"It has" Eris agreed. She carefully laid the faun down and he instantly sat up so he was sat with his hoofs crossed in front of him. He looked up and down at Eris and smiled wider

"You look different, you look really funny" Finn giggled

Eris smiled and looked down at her clothes. By now her tunic was tattered and scratched in some places "Yeah, well I've been in here for quite a while"

At those words being said, Finn's expression went from happy to worried, he looked around his surroundings and taking note of the bad smelling, old dungeon "Eris, what exactly is this place?"

The girl took a deep breath. It was obvious that Finn was completely oblivious to where he was "We're in a dungeon" she said simply.

Finn's expression went to complete horror "W-What?"

()()()()()()()()()()()

_Susan and Lucy on their way north…_

Susan clasped her horse's reins while Lucy clung to her back throughout the ride to prevent herself from falling. The journey was mostly silent where it not for the general occasionally asking questions which he received mostly one worded answers; soon the general gave up trying to come up with conversations to lighten the mood after realizing that no matter how hard he tried, nothing would work

Susan was desolate throughout the ride; the only person who would momentarily come up to mind was Caspian. This is the second time where she and Caspian had no choice but to separate for valid situations and she hated it.

But at the same time she was grieving for Edmund's kidnap and for her dear friend Eris. She was worried. What if something happened to them? What if they were….too late?

She mentally cursed herself for thinking these things; of course they weren't too late. Edmund was a strong individual and will therefore keep holding on for his life and vice-versa for Eris as well.

But another thought came to her mind. What was Peter feeling about this situation? She was dwelling on Peter especially and she was hoping that he would not feel like it was his fault. The two brothers were so close they were almost inseparable…except for times like these.

She remembered all those times during their reign where Peter would often help Edmund out on multiple things which would be from sword fighting and to sparring while riding a horse. And there were times where Peter would never leave his brother's side after Edmund would be badly wounded from a battle, and Edmund did the same if Peter was the one who was wounded. They had never left each others sides. They had a bond that no other person could break and Susan admired that as well as Lucy.

She just wanted their brother back, and to free both Eris and her brother from whatever danger they're facing.

Susan felt Lucy pat her on her shoulder comfortingly "Susan, they'll be okay"

It was like Lucy was reading her mind, she smiled up at Susan lightly and the older girl returned the gesture

"Thanks Lu, I'm just… I can't help it; I'm worried about how Peter is taking all of this. Do you think he'll be okay?"

Lucy paused to think for a moment. She puffed out air from her nose as she silently laughed and she nodded her head "Oh Su, you're just like him sometimes, always worrying. But I don't think he will take it easy at first, he'll come eventually though, I promise"

Susan looked sideways at Lucy, since she had to multi-task on riding the horse and talking to Lucy, "You seem so sure about it Lu…"

"12 years I've put up with Peter Su… I think I'll be able to know him inside and out, from now"

"Actually, you've put up with him for 27 years including our reign in the golden age" Susan corrected, which was a habit of hers ever since England.

"…ohhh yeah" Lucy said after finally realizing

Suddenly, the front row of the Narnian army guards pulled their weapons out in front of them. Susan, Lucy and General Haddon were confused as they had to put their horses to an abrupt stop

"What is going on guards?" General Haddon spoke up

"We have appeared to spot someone…or something, sire" One of the Narnian guards called out from near the general. Once the general heard this, he squinted his eyes to get a better glimpse of what the Narnian guards informed him about.

He saw it too, but couldn't make out what it was, but he did note that it was coming closer.

Lucy clutched Susan tighter around the waist and Susan continued looking ahead of her while mentally debating on whether she should get her bow and arrows at the ready.

Soon it appeared to trot closer and everyone found out that it was two horses. One of them a light shade of brown and the other a darker brown.

General Haddon and Susan sighed with relief.

"It's okay guards, lower your weapons!" the General called out after coming to conclusions that these horses pose no threats whatsoever

The guards soon lowered their weapons. Some unsheathing their swords and others putting back their bows.

Lucy looked closer at the horses. They were somewhat familiar…

Then she gasped loudly and quickly mounted off the horse

"Lucy!" Susan called out in alarm

Lucy ran so that she was at one of the horse's side (the one with a darker brown colour) and she started to stroke its beautiful mane

"Lucy, get back here!" Susan called out again. Lucy turned around so that she was looking at Susan with delight on her face

"Susan! Don't you know who these horses belong to?" Susan perked an eye brow up at her but then widened her eyes as she realized what Lucy was implying

"It can't be…" Susan whispered in amazement to herself while dismounting her current horse. She quickly walked over to where the horses were and stopped beside the horse with the lighter brown colour and stroked its mane

"We've finally found our horses Susan, no words could describe how happy I am" Lucy said emotionally. The horses were grazing by a tree while the two girls were happily stroking them with smiles on their faces.

General Haddon spoke up "My Queens, we are delighted to see that Credentino and Willow are safely returned and back in safe hands but that doesn't stop us from wondering how and why they had been taken"

Susan straightened up "I know General, and we will get to the bottom of this, but now we have no choice but to take our horses with us"

"And I think we should call it a night as well" Lucy said looking up at the darkening sky, she looked back at Susan "The horses are probably exhausted, Aslan knows how long they have been trotting about, they deserve some rest" she looked back at her horse and was completely euphoric that their horse's have finally returned out of nowhere

Susan nodded "Yes, I think so too" they quickly went to work on putting up the tents and making their space as comfortable as possible. A couple of loyal guards volunteered to watch for any danger during the night.

Soon, all that could be heard was light cricket noises and the smell of fresh nature.

Lucy looked up from where she lay. Susan was next to her and was already sound asleep. Lucy rolled her eyes _'Oh Susan, you should have told me that you were exhausted before!'_

She laughed it off silently and looked back up where the center of the tent poked up and closed her eyes

_Thank you Aslan for bringing my Willow back to me, please make sure that Peter is okay, and Caspian as well and Edmund and Eris too. Please help us rescue them_

She then said a silent prayer until she made herself comfortable before she too drifted off into dream land.

* * *

**Review and tell me what you think! If you have any requests for anything else please let me know, I'd love to write more things. And as far as this story goes, I WILL NOT ABANDON THIS, even if it takes me for as long as 3 months to update, I will not abandon it. So please review!**


	12. V1: Finn's Story

**Chapter 12**

**A/N: Thank you to those people who have been sending me PM's telling me about how they were enjoying this story, it really means a lot so here is another chapter for you all, and I hope you enjoy it!**

**Disclaimer: C.S. Lewis. That's all I'm gonna say**

* * *

"I demand to know where you are taking me" Edmund demanded. He hated the fact that he was being dragged along under Janet's hold. He was a king! He should be respected! But Janet did none of that, she gripped Edmund's arm harder which made the young boy wince.

"You'd best keep your mouth shut boy" Janet hissed.

Edmund glared, but then realized that she was in front of him so she couldn't see his face and just sighed instead.

He looked around the castle. Everywhere was either black or grey. There wasn't a single bright colour in sight despite his light tunic. The furniture's were ancient and dark which matched Janet's personality, and the halls were very wide and well spaced. Edmund despised the smell of the castle, though it definitely didn't beat the dungeons, it reminded him of evil and all things worse. The windows were very big and vulnerable and Edmund couldn't help but laugh quietly at their stupidity. What if the Northerners were being attacked and the opposing army decided to throw giant rocks using catapults that aimed at the big windows? They would be dead instantly. Even the corpse smelling dungeons were a safer place to be in!

Edmund's face grew woeful at that thought. Speaking of dungeons, he was wondering how Eris was holding on. And he also wondered if the little faun had woken up or not… he prayed to Aslan that he'd be okay…in fact he prayed that everyone and Narnia would be okay.

They suddenly rounded up a corner and Edmund grunted at the sudden pain on his arms. All of his thinking had distracted him from the death grip that Janet had on him.

They continued walking and Edmund grew impatient. Even though this castle wasn't as big as Cair Paravel, they sure did have a lot of rooms. Edmund huffed with annoyance.

He couldn't help but wonder what his siblings were doing at the moment. Peter was out of the question, without a doubt he would be worried sick for his well being. Edmund smiled to himself at that thought. That was one of the reasons why he loved his brother, albeit it can get annoying at times but he knew that at the end of the day, Peter is always there for him and he would do anything for his brother as long as he was safe

He just hoped that Peter wasn't feeling guilt-ridden. He also hoped that Susan and Lucy were doing okay. But most of all, he hoped that Aslan would guide them along the way and that both he and Eris will be saved. He shouldn't get his hopes up though, but optimistic as he was he couldn't help but hope for victory

However Edmund had a wretched feeling in the pit of his stomach which wasn't a good thing as it indicated that something wrong was going to happen. He had a bad feeling of this. He didn't know what he was expected to do because no matter how many times he would ask Janet, she wouldn't answer, so he just gave up trying knowing that he would never get the answer until the time came

He was once again forced out of his thoughts when he was suddenly rounded to a halt. Both he and Janet were stood in front of a large black wooden door.

Since manners were extinct in the Northern castle, Janet opened the door without the need for knocking. This had startled the owner of the room.

Edmund was pushed inside the room with Janet following behind him. The dark haired boy looked to see a marsh-wiggle who appeared to have been distracted from reading a book. Edmund sensed that the creature was annoyed at the sudden entrance; the boy didn't blame him, for he would have been highly irritated if someone decided to barge into his bed chamber like that.

Janet spoke up in a tough tone "This is Edmund; he's going to be our entertainer for this evening's homecoming party. And I shall expect you to dress him up in a smart and presentable manner; we will need to impress our guests" Edmund didn't notice the smirk on the woman's face as she said this

The marsh-wiggle instantly stood up and bowed before his queen "Yes your majesty" he looked up to see Edmund "Right this way" he gestured beside him, indicating that Edmund should step more into the room.

Edmund hesitantly did so. The creature looked back at his majesty and bowed again "Your majesty, how long does he have to finish getting ready?"

"Six o'clock" she said "If he is not ready by then, I will throw you behind a cell and make sure you get killed the following day"

Edmund winced at those harsh words, even though it wasn't directed at him he glared at Janet while she exited the room.

The marsh-wiggle turned to examine Edmund and noted his thin form, pale skin and dark hair.

Edmund did the same. The creature was quite old and short. He had dark eyes and grey hair which was covered by his pointy black hat. His clothing was black and his shoes were dark in colour as well.

"Right" the creature began "Edmund is it?"

Edmund nodded

The marsh-wiggle narrowed his eyes and leaned closer "Are you _the_ King Edmund?" he asked

Edmund nodded again "Yes, I am he" he proudly said "And your name?"

"Pleased to meet you, I'm Wicklebourn" he said "but, I don't understand why you're here exactly, I mean… shouldn't you—"

"I have been kidnapped" Edmund interrupted to make things easier "along with a friend of mine"

"Oh… sorry to hear that" was all Wicklebourn said before an awkward silence took over. There wasn't really much explaining to do about that, because this was Janet, and this wasn't surprising to the creature

Edmund was quite surprized at the sudden apology, he thought that since they don't have marsh wiggles in Cair Paravel, he assumed that they were evil, but this Wicklebourn fellow was actually a nice person.

"It's fine" he said before turning around "Right then Wick, what am I going to wear? I hope we get this night over and done with because I am absolutely dreading it, I don't even know what an entertainer does!"

Wicklebourn cleared his throat "Wick?"

Edmund turned around to face the creature with a smile of amusement in his face "Yeah, short for Wicklebourn… that is… if you don't mind me calling you that"

The creature thought about it for a moment and smiled "Okay that's fine" he said "Right, let's pick something nice and presentable for you to wear" he walked over to a big massive wardrobe that was stood at the far corner of the big room and looked through all the pieces of clothing.

Edmund took in the sight of the room. It hardly contained anything, and as always, every colour was black and grey. There was only a table, a chair and the wardrobe and a small window.

"This is your room?" Edmund asked from across the room. Wicklebourn looked back at the boy before proceeding in looking for clothing

"No, this isn't classed as my room, I only use this room for sleeping and if I have free time, I read"

Edmund contemplated his words, amazed and angered at how Janet treated this creature. After all, this room didn't belong to anyone else so why not just let him have the room?

His thoughts drifted back to Eris. Here he was, about to get dressed smart and modish and she was in a windowless and claustrophobic cell wondering if he would be okay and probably bored out of her wits. He wondered why Janet chose him out of all people to be a certain thing at a party. It was a thought that he will probably never have the answer to.

Both Wicklebourn and Edmund jumped when they heard a faint clatter of what sounded like broken glass

"What was that?" Edmund asked

Wicklebourn shrugged "I'm not sure, it could have been an accident or something"

"I'll go check—"Edmund got ready to stand up and see what was going on when Wicklebourn interrupted

"No!" he said, but not loudly "No Edmund, if Janet sees you out of this room without her permission, I will be in big trouble"

Edmund understood and sat back down on the chair "Are you loyal to Queen Janet?" Edmund asked

The creature paused in mid-search before continuing "well, I don't have much choice do I? I've grown up under her control; I don't really have a choice. She's cold-hearted, yes I'll agree to that, but… I am loyal to her and I always have been"

Edmund was ready to argue but then kept his mouth shut; he knew that it would do no good to _make_ someone hate another person.

Time seemed to pass before Wicklebourn finally started "This is perfect" he held up the clothing that Edmund was expected to wear. The boy wasn't surprised to find that it was all black and he scrunched up his nose at the sight.

"Wick…I'm not wearing that"

"You have to Edmund; it's what Queen Janet expects" Wicklebourn said

"What _is_ that though? …No. I'm not wearing that, it looks funny" the boy argued

"You are wearing it whether you like it or not" he pushed Edmund behind a grey room divider screen

"No, it looks big"

"You are wearing it"

"It's too black for me"

"Wear it"

"It will suffocate me"

"Wear it. Now"

"I don't find it smart or presentable"

"Edmund"

"I'm allergic to it"

"I don't care if you have a damn seizure, wear it now!"

Edmund - knowing that he had used almost every excuse from the book - finally relented and silently cursed at the sudden defeat. He snatched the clothing with a huff and a glare, and got changed with vexation

()()()()()()()()()()()()()

_In Darreth's bedchambers…_

Janet entered her son's bedchambers after she dropped Edmund off with Wicklebourn. Darreth's room was filled with rich furniture though it was (as always) all in dark colours in general

She found Darreth still wearing his everyday tunic; thus, she scowled at him "You pathetic boy, why aren't you dressed? We have only one hour left and you're not presented in a regal manner!"

Northern parties were very diverse from Cair Paravel. Unlike the Cair, it was vital that you are dressed smart and as attractive as possible. Overall, it was quite a serious occasion rather than an enjoyable one.

Darreth smiled sheepishly and looked down in fear for his mother "I'm sorry mother, I'll get started right away" his hair was tasseled and all over the place. He was quite a disorganized person.

Janet was about to retort when a sharp knock came from the door. Both Darreth and Janet turned towards the door which was yet unopened. Janet huffed

"For goodness sake come in already!" the woman shouted and Darreth winced at the sudden yell.

The door opened immediately and a young girl rushed into the room panting for breath which indicated that she had been running in search of her Queen for quite a while. Her face was heavily made up and her brown hair was styled up in a side bun and her earrings were green and dangly. Her face was flushed from her running and she wore an orange puffy dress that was lengthened above her bare thighs. It was obvious that she was wearing a costume for a show or something along the lines of that

"Your majesty! Your majesty! It's urgent!" the girl said in between her heavy breathing. Her eyes were wide from whatever the emergency was

Janet frowned "What are you doing here" she hissed with anger, "You're one of the dancers for the show! You should be rehearsing your dance along with the other five girls!"

The girl shook her head hopelessly, still breathing quickly "Your majesty! That's the problem! One of the girls has broken her leg! She can't attend the dance! We—"

"What!" Janet roared, standing up all of a sudden. Darreth winced again along with the girl. "This can't be happening! There has to be at least six girls overall for the dance!" Janet was so furious that she grabbed the nearest object which was a brush that was sitting on Darreth's bed side table and threw it across the room and landed on the clock that was hung above the door and it broke into millions of pieces and eventually dropped heavily on the floor creating a loud noise that made the girl wince again.

"How are we supposed to present the dance with just five girls? You have rehearsed well over a month now and it's gone down the bin! We have very important visitors and we have to impress them as much as we can but how will we do that if the show turns out horrifically bad?" Janet continued her yell

The girl hesitated to reply, afraid that she will distress her queen further. But she knew she was expected to reply so she had no choice "Your majesty…" she said, trying to sound easy but her shaky voice was betraying her "it was an accident, she insisted that she could still carry on but it's obvious she can't because she keeps falling down. She is now currently seeing a healer and we have been confirmed that she won't be healed for a few weeks"

Janet was glaring daggers at the girl while she was talking "Tell the healers that that won't be necessary"

The girl looked at her queen with one eye brow lifted up in confusion, "I'm sorry your majesty, but why?"

Janet narrowed her eyes further and walked closer to the girl but stopped mid way "I will make sure that the girl gets killed. She is no use to our castle any more and I warned you all about this"

The girl gasped, completely horrified "Your majesty…" she couldn't continue further knowing that you can never question the Queen's actions. Instead she said "What shall we do your majesty?"

Janet turned towards Darreth "Darreth dear, go and get changed. This is none of your business" she ordered and Darreth nodded his head and walked to the far side of the room to where his wardrobe was so he could pick out what to wear

Janet turned back around to the girl "Now, this is what we are going to do…"

()()()()()()()()()()()()

_At the dungeons…_

Eris had told Finn her side of the story of how she and Edmund had gotten here in the first place. The little faun was very surprised that this was the monarchs she was talking about. He felt angry at those two soldiers who had decided to sneak into the Cair and kidnap both Eris and King Edmund.

Even though this was only their second time in seeing each other, Finn had developed strong loyalty towards Eris, he had never felt this way to any one else, except his mother.

"Finn, what about you? How did you get here?" Eris asked, deeply concerned. Out of all people, Finn would be the last person she'd expect to be thrown in here.

Finn furrowed his eye brows and looked off into space as he recalled the memories. Soon, his lips started to quiver and this went unnoticed by Eris who had immediately wrapped her arms around the little boy in a loose but comforting hug

"I'm sorry Finn, I didn't mean to remind you" she apologized

"No Eris" the little faun sniffed, trying his hardest to make it seem like he wasn't crying but his shaky voice didn't help. "I have to tell you"

Eris gently let go of him and waited patiently for the faun to continue.

"Well… it started when I was in my hut" he shivered once more as he found it hard to voice out his memory of what happened but continued nonetheless "My…my mother was out picking some vegetables that we had grown last season. All of a sudden I…I heard my mother screaming…" the young faun closed his eyes as he pictured the horrified look on his mothers face.

He soon felt Eris's hands patting his shoulder for comfort. He opened his eyes and nodded very lightly in return

"I quickly ran outside to see what happened… and…and… I saw a couple of soldiers, I can't remember how many but I know it was a small number. They were all wearing armour and it was bright silver with a picture of a black crown in the middle of it. It was clear to me that…that they were Northern soldiers. One of them had a hold of my mother. My mother…she…she looked so scared…I…I was scared too. I screamed for her, and I was crying. I've never seen mother so scared or even _cry _before in my life! She couldn't move because the soldier was so strong. I remember hearing mother call out my name, and I could tell she was warning me about something, but whatever the warning was I knew I failed… because I remember one of the soldiers pulling me from behind. I was being dragged away from mother. The last thing I remember was mother's frightened face, I was screaming and shouting for the enemy to let me go… but… but they were so strong…I…I couldn't save myself… couldn't save mother"

Eris felt sympathy for him. He was only little! He didn't deserve to experience such a horrific sight. She was about to say something when Finn already spoke

"That was the last thing I remember… and then I woke up here. And I don't know where mother is" he was silently weeping now.

Eris quickly embraced the faun; she couldn't help but feel tears prick in her own eyes. "Shhh Finn, its okay, hopefully me or Edmund will find a way out of this, and maybe if a miracle does its job, Aslan can save us"

Finn nodded against Eris's shoulder. But that didn't help him feel better, he wanted his mother, he felt hopeless but another part of him felt a little better that he could have somebody to talk to. But this was the second time that he'd ever been separated from his mother, except he knew that this one would last longer… much much longer.

"Are you okay?" Eris asked once the faun had calmed down. The young boy nodded weakly and pulled back gently.

"Yes... thank you"

"It's my pleasure Finn, and it always will be" she said gently, even though she had no idea why he was thanking her.

"I love you Eris, you're like my second mother, and you always listen to me when I'm upset. I just can't help but feel worried for mother, what if they're hurting her?"

Eris gently ruffled the ginger curly locks of the faun "I love you too Finn, like you're my little brother. And I can assure you that your mother is a very strong woman. She will get through this, I promise" she wished she could take those words back, she sounded so sure but she wasn't feeling it and she didn't mean to bring Finn's hopes up.

Before Finn could even open his mouth to reply, the dungeon doors opened with a bang which made both Eris and Finn jump with fright.

Eris wasn't surprized to see Janet standing in their midst with the same evil smile on her face. It seems like she's everywhere, and Eris was already getting sick of seeing her face.

Finn on the other hand, trembled at the sight of the woman. Eris leaned Finn closer to her for comfort and protection. He'd never seen Janet up until now and he was already scared of her.

"Ah it seems like the weak little faun has woken up finally" she sneered

"He's not weak" Eris hissed, trying to contain her anger "He's stronger than you'll ever be"

Apollo attempted to take a step further towards the girl but Janet stopped him in mid step. She appeared to be unaffected by her words which Eris found strange.

The young girl felt Finn gripping the back of her right elbow in fear.

"I'm going to need you" Janet said simply, echoing what she had said to Edmund earlier.

Eris felt her heart-beat quicken and she paled. What did she want her for? And where was Edmund? Her thoughts were stuck on him. She didn't know where Edmund was and why he wasn't in sight but why was _she_ needed?

"Why?" Eris growled

Janet sighed in a mocking manner and lifted her left hand to look at her fingernails while her eye brows were raised up "I don't deserve to waste my time explaining"

Eris glared at the woman, her attitude was really annoying and it most certainly didn't suit her.

The woman looked up at her guards and gestured for them to unlock the chains on Eris's feet. They obeyed instantly.

Finn's eyes widened once he realised that he was going to be alone. He didn't move out of Apollo's way when he was in the middle of unchaining Eris so the Minotaur shoved Finn away violently using his feet. Consequently, the young faun yelped at the sudden and painful contact as he was pushed away forcefully

Eris saw this and narrowed her eyes at the heartless Minotaur, she aimed to swing her arm hard at the creature so she can hurt him for payback, but Janet reacted quickly and seized her wrists, Eris wailed at the painful grip.

"You _dare_ attempt to harm our guards then I shall see to it that you are _killed_" she threatened with a low voice. This however didn't affect the young girl. She merely stared at the woman with complete loath and was definite that her wrist will form a bruise later on.

Once her ankles were free from the chains, the Minotaur pulled Eris up to her feet and, like Edmund, she wobbled a little bit seeing as she had been used to being on the ground for quite a while but soon, she regained her balance. She heard Finn whimper from behind her and she turned her head to face the little faun. Already, he looked so alone. And Eris wanted nothing more than to snatch the faun and run away to freedom. She sent him a sympathetic look and was about to mouth comforting words to the little boy but she found herself being pushed forward towards the doors by the two guards who were standing behind her

As soon as she stepped outside the door, she heard the dungeon doors close with the same annoying creaking sound and Eris felt like she wanted to cry for her dear friend. He was all alone in that filthy dungeon with nobody around; all he had was his painful memories. Eris sent a silent prayer to the Great Lion and hoped that somehow a miracle would happen and it could possible come true.

She found that she was able to breathe more freely now that she wasn't cooped up in that cell and it instantly eased her mind. She hadn't realised, until Janet called out to her, that she had simply stood there relishing the fact that she was out of that horrible room.

"You filthy half-breed, we haven't got all day, hurry up!" Janet sneered, her eyes blazing. Eris didn't move from her spot, she solely just stood there glaring at the woman. Nobody had a right to talk to her that way, especially for someone like her. She just wished to be out of here. _But then again, don't we all?_

She was pulled out of her thoughts when she suddenly felt a stinging sensation impacting on her left cheek. She went out of balance but managed to maintain her stability and touched the spot where Janet slapped her. She looked back up at the flaming expression of Janet, she was fuming but that only made the young girl feel much better. After all, she deserved it for kidnapping not only her, not only Edmund, but Finn as well, a mere child!

Janet knew that Eris would continue to act like her stubborn self, so she did what she felt like doing.

Eris was screaming and yelling protests. "Let me go! Take your hands off my hair! Leave me be!" she tried to grasp the older woman's fingers from her hair but it was no use. Janet was much bigger and stronger.

And to make matters worse she walked while pulling Eris's hair along with her, ignoring the girl's cries and shouts.

"That will teach you to disobey me" the old woman muttered to herself as she made her way through the wide hallways

Eris felt excruciating pain on her scalp as her hair was being gripped vigorously. She tried with all her might to make Janet release her strong grip. It was times like these where she wished she had her sword.

To her great relief, they stopped and Janet finally released her grip leaving Eris grimacing at the aftermath. After a few moments, she looked around her surroundings and noticed that she wasn't in a room in particular, but in a wide spaced hall.

She looked to see that there was a girl, approximately about her age, standing next to Janet. She looked awfully funny in Eris's opinion.

Her costume consisted of a short orange puffy dress.

_Can that dress get any shorter?_ Eris thought to herself. Her shoes were flat and red, which was a completely different colour to her dress. Her face was invaded with make up. Her rouged lips stood out the most. Her long green sparkly earrings were also a completely diverse colour to the rest of her costume.

Eris couldn't help but wince at the sight. It was absolutely dreadful.

"Your majesty… this is _her_?" she asked, with a slightly disgusted tone in her voice.

"Yes, she will do exactly as you instruct her to do, for the show" Janet turned to look at Eris "_Won't_ you"

It wasn't a question; it was a statement… a threatening statement.

However, Eris didn't pay attention. She was too shocked. Was she supposed to be in a show or something? What was going on? And why wouldn't anyone tell her?

Eris quoted Janet's previous statement with a hitch of fear evident in her voice "F-for the show?"

* * *

**I think I've updated this rather quickly… I'm proud of myself yay! Please review! It would a lot. The next chapter may include some graphic scenes… that will be a little horrific but oh well, don't say I didn't warn you! Anyway, please pretty please review! **


	13. V1: Anywhere but here

**Chapter 13**

**A/N: Hey guys! I'm sorry it took me a while to update, I've been visiting my friend from Glasgow which was fun, but now I'm back and I hereby present to you this chapter, I think this it was quite a challenge but I hope you like it nonetheless. If you are not a fan of graphic scenes or rape please don't read…you've been warned (It's not alot anyway). I hope you like it**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Chronicles of Narnia, nor do I own the characters… I envy C.S. Lewis…**

* * *

_The north-east travel…_

It had been almost a day and a half since they had begun their journey and it was with no doubt that Peter already had dark circles forming under his eyes. Caspian sighed in disappointment. What ever happened to _'don't feel guilty, it wasn't your fault'_?

No matter how many time he had been reassured him that this wasn't his fault; Peter couldn't stop the feeling of regret pounding all through his body. He tried so hard to get rid of it and reassure himself… but it was no use

His little brother was out there. Powerless. Defenseless. And helplessly vulnerable.

He couldn't help but feel anger towards the Northerners. How dare they commit such an act? Especially after signing a peace treaty! He felt betrayed.

Peter looked up and noticed a gryphon flying towards them. At first he thought it was an enemy and was almost about to pull his horse to a halt; the other guards did the same thing. But then Peter realised that the gryphon was none other than the most trusted messenger in Narnia. The creature landed in front of Peter and his horse with a graceful bow "Your majesty"

"Sybil" Peter said with a sense of hopefulness in his voice. The gryphon only came when he had an important message and Peter hoped that it could be good news "Is there any news?" he asked

"Yes your majesty, it is about your royal sisters" Sybil noticed the hint of worry in the high king's features and quickly added "It isn't anything bad King Peter I must assure you"

"That's good, what is the news then?"

"I have been told that both Queen Lucy and Queen Susan's horses have been found"

Peter and Caspian raised their eye brows in surprise and quickly passed a glance at each other before turning their attention back to Sybil

"King Peter this is fantastic news!" Caspian said with glee "I can just imagine Susan's look on her face at finally finding her horse after such a long time"

Peter couldn't help but laugh, he was overjoyed that the horses have been found, but was also amused at the fact that Caspian only mentioned Susan. It was still clear that he missed her a lot. No doubt the dreamy look on his face gave it all away. He put his attention back to the gryphon

"Thank you for informing us Sybil, we appreciate the news, with no doubt I certainly needed it at this time of thought. I admit I feel much more determined now knowing that my royal sisters have better transportation rather than sharing the same horse throughout the whole travel"

The creature bowed its head as they normally do when they bow to their monarchs "That is wonderful to hear my king and I do assure you that your sisters are doing fine so far, and I hope that Aslan lets it remain this way. I bid you all good luck and hope that we get enough aid from the Great Lion to help us restore their freedom as well as Narnia's" Sybil said. The older king smiled with gratitude

"It's great to hear some support. I, along with everyone else hope for the same outcome, thank you again for assuring us all with your wise words" at this, the creature blushed, not being used to receiving such compliments "But could you do me a quick favor Sybil?" Peter asked.

Sybil looked up "Of course your majesty"

"Could you please reassure my royal sisters that we are safe, just as they are? I want them to know that we are not in any danger yet and I most definitely don't want them to worry about us"

"Certainly your majesty, they have a right just as much as you and King Caspian do as well. I bid you all farewell and wish you a safe journey; I shall continue praying that Aslan will come to our aid"

Before Peter could say his thanks, the gryphon had already flapped its silvery wings and took off with such speed that only a well trained gryphon could handle.

Caspian noted the much happier expression on the blonde's face and couldn't help but smile himself. After all it had been a while ever since the news of Edmund and Eris's kidnap that Peter had been increasingly stressed.

He trotted his horse closer to Peter, who had been looking off into space, no doubt thinking about his sisters

"King Peter" Caspian said, startling the younger King "sorry to startle you but we should continue"

"Wha - Oh! Sorry, your right let's go" Peter didn't realise that he'd been off in his own world. But noting that there was no time to waste he urged his horse on forward along with everyone else

The amount of times that Peter had traveled during his ruling, he had learnt how to multitask from riding his horse, to daydreaming at the same time. It became a habit of his which he was glad as he had gotten time to think on the move.

As for Caspian, he had gotten used to the silence that overcame them during the past day and a half. He knew that Peter was and always has been deep in thought. Perhaps he's thinking of a strategy of some sort. The brunette only focused ahead of him and noted down everything he could see from the open grassy land, to the hunch of the tall foresty trees. He also noticed that a small wind had picked up. His hair ruffled behind swiftly, thus he could see much better without having strands of his hair in front of his eyes.

"Your majesties King Caspian and High King Peter" A panther called out. The two kings were pulled out of their thoughts and looked at the guard who was now beside them "We are nearing the North. It is estimated that we will reach our destination tomorrow after midday"

Peter felt relieved before a wave of nervousness washed over him. If they were nearing, then this would be the time where danger will be lurking every corner so he had to keep his eyes peeled sharper at their surroundings. "If that's the case that we reach there tomorrow, then it means we have traveled for 2 and a half days. That's half a day more than our actual prediction" Peter said, disappointed that he'd got it wrong.

Caspian sighed "King Peter that doesn't matter, the only thing that matters now is that we are close" he turned forward to face the guards in front of them "and that means that we ought to pay more attention to our surroundings" he spoke louder in order to be heard "because before, when me and King Peter traveled to Queen Janet's castle for the peace treaty, we had found that she has Northern guards guarding even the outside of the castle location, so we have to be aware"

The guards nodded and they continued on forward. Peter felt more relaxed, for Caspian had spoken his thoughts as though he had read them and now that the guards were more aware, he felt more impregnable. _Hold on Ed, I'm coming for you_

()()()

In all her years she'd never thought that she would be put in a situation like this. She felt like she was going to die. Her eyes felt like they were bleeding. She felt like she was going to be sick everywhere. She wanted nothing more than to run away. She wanted to cry, and scream. Her throat was dry, she couldn't speak, and no words were coming out. She was at loss of words and was helpless. She realised that there was no way to turn back

The dreaded time had come where she had to wear the same costume that the brunette girl was wearing and it was the same dress that she vowed she would never be caught dead in

She couldn't stand to look in the mirror after she got dressed, and when she did, she screamed until one of the other girls (one of the dancers) covered her mouth while swearing at her to shut her mouth.

They were backstage where she was forced to get dressed. At first, she refused, until Janet showed up. She practically forced her, knowing that she was a stubborn one.

Now here she was, standing in front of a mirror, with a look of disgust on her face as she stared at her reflection.

_If Edmund saw me right now, he would be laughing like there was no tomorrow_ Eris thought to herself.

She hated the orange puffy dress. It was so short as it was 1 or 2 inches above her thighs and she hated the way the green dangly earrings moved from side to side at every head movement. She had the sensation that her ear lobes would fall off. She felt uncomfortable wearing the red flats as she was often used to wearing her boots. She looked completely different with make up. She gaped at her red lips. That was the only thing she liked about herself. But the rest of her make up was too much. Her already pale skin was made even paler, and her eyelashes seemed longer and darker, her waterline was black and they drew a line on her eye lids creating a small wing at the end. Her hair was painfully pulled into a side bun and was styled with a silver headband. As a result, she looked like a totally different person and it made Eris anxious

"Come on we haven't got all day!" a girl said, snapping Eris out of her thoughts, she turned around and saw that there were five other girls standing in a line. The other girl – who had just been talking - was standing directly in front of Eris. Her hands were on her hips and she was scowling at her. Eris scowled back; she didn't want to be here in the first place

"Instead of admiring yourself, we need to teach you the full routine before the show starts" the girl hissed, her voice was incredibly nasally, just like Janet herself. Eris was about to retort but the girl beat her to it "Now first thing's first, I'm Caine, and_ I'm_ the group leader. You do exactly as I say, you hear that?" she hissed. Eris had already come to conclusions that she was going to hate this girl.

Caine turned and walked towards the other five girls who had obediently stood in a line. The girl stopped walking mid-way and turned back around to face Eris with an evil smirk "Now girls" she was referring to the five girls behind her "Queen Janet told me personally that this filth in front of us is a half breed so therefore, we should have sympathy for her...poor thing" she said sarcastically

The five girls immediately gasped in disgust. Some occasionally shouting "That's horrible! A half breed!" all of them were looking at Eris with loathe and repugnance. However, the dark haired girl merely rolled her eyes; she was already used to this kind of reaction from Archenland and patiently folded her arms, waiting for the girls to shut up.

One of the five girls came up to stand in front of Eris. She had ginger hair and dark blue eyes, her face held an emotion of grimace, as she acted in a manner that if she touched Eris, she would melt and evaporate. She reached out her hand towards her tentatively and stopped just inches away from Eris's forehead

"I knew she wasn't normal from the moment I saw her. Look at her, she's so pale yet her hair is so dark, definitely not normal. Even with make up she looks like a skanky little Calormen tramp" she said in an annoyingly high pitched voice that Eris found increasingly galling. She was about to scream and yell at the girl and correct her that she wasn't from Calormen at all, but she bit her tongue in order to prevent her from lashing out.

Everyone started laughing at her. And Caine spoke up "It's a pity your mother was too ugly to find a man of her own race, no wonder she had to travel around the world to find someone. You stupid, filthy mixed race, you should be ashamed of yourself; the world would be a better place without people like you. No wonder your father felt sorry for your mother and had no choice but to –"

That had done it. Eris pushed Caine towards the wall with such power, that it knocked the breath out of her when her back impacted with the hard surface. Eris grabbed a fist full of her dress collar and stared threateningly at her. Her lips were pursed and her eyes were frighteningly focused on Caine. Eris's eyes bore through her soul that Caine instantly felt shaky. Eris had never felt such anger towards anyone before. But no one ever talks or teases her family in such manner

"Don't you _ever_ talk about my mother and father like that _ever_" Eris hissed in a dangerously low voice. She realised that all the other girls were silent, even Caine herself. It was obvious that they never expected Eris to be like that. They thought that she was defenseless and petite just like most of the other girls around North. But they found that they miss-judged her, seeing as Eris was practically pinning their own dance leader against a wall with such venom anger. They could never have the guts to do that to their own captain as she has more authority than the rest of the girls

Suddenly, a hunched up figure showed up round the corner "Now now, what is the meaning of this?" it was an old man with grey hair and a slightly hunched back. He was wearing a black cloak which wasn't a surprise. He took in the sight of Eris holding Caine by her collar with an angry expression and all the surprised looks of the girls.

Instantly, Eris let go of the girl, not feeling the slightest bit of guilt. After all, she got what was coming

One of the girl's spoke up "Sir, Eris was calling Caine names and threatening her!" she lied

"What! That's not true!" Eris defended.

"Is too, you half breed _filth_" Eris was about to march over to the girl when the old man spoke up

"That is enough" he said simply, all the girls fell silent. It seemed as though the man's words had an effect on the girls as they instantly obeyed. "Now Caine, you're supposed to be the responsible one aren't you. Thus, you should be setting them an example. We didn't nominate you for the dance captain for nothing" he said. Caine nodded her head slowly

"Yes sir"

"And as for you" he said, turning to Eris "From what Queen Janet tells me, you are a prisoner here, and you are expected to be obedient, not throw violence" he said sternly.

Eris narrowed her eyes "Who are you to talk to me like that? And I'm not a prisoner, I was kidnapped"

The girls gasped, and Eris rolled her eyes. They were really starting to annoy her, it seemed like everything she did or said, would put an exaggerated effect on them.

The old man however, looked at her with a blank face "I am the one who will play the music for your dance routine, and it is none of my business as to what happened to you and why you are here. I am simply doing my job and you need to show some respect seeing as you have no authority here" he turned to look at the other girls while Eris narrowed her eyes at him "and from what I'm seeing, I am guessing that you girls haven't taught her the dance routine yet"

The girls shook their heads slowly and the old man tutted "Queen Janet will not be impressed girls, the party starts in half an hour and you'll be the opening act!"

Eris's eyes widened. '_Opening act?'_

"We'll teach her Sir, don't worry" Caine reassured, but Eris knew that she didn't mean it.

The old man nodded his head and turned around mumbling nonsense to himself. _'Perhaps he's a crazy man' _Eris thought to herself

Once he rounded the corner, Eris saw Caine standing directly in front of her with her hands on her hips "I didn't really appreciate being man-handled thank you very much" she said in her same nasally voice. Eris again rolled her eyes. They clearly don't know what real man handling feels like. Eris shuddered at the memory.

"But right now we need to teach you the moves. In half an hour's time, we'll be standing on stage with thousands of people watching us"

Eris gulped. She hated the idea of people seeing her in a ridiculous dress, not to mention that she wasn't being supported with leggings or pants. She felt incredibly exposed. "Okay…let's just get this over and done with"

Twenty five minutes later, Eris still had no clue of what she was doing. They taught her step by step on what to do, but all the information just leaked out of her other ear. She pretended to know everything, and she saw the relieved looks on the girl's faces as they thought that Eris would remember each move. When in reality, Eris grew even more confused. She wasn't the type of person to learn something straight away; it would take her a lot of time before she'd actually get the hang of things. This was why she trained herself sword fighting at a very young age. In most of the twenty five minutes, she wondered on how the others were doing and what Edmund was doing at this moment and if he was okay or not

"Okay girls, we have five minutes before the show starts, are we all ready?" Caine said her voice shaky as she was growing nervous.

One of the girls peeked through the side of the stage curtain and squealed quietly to herself and looked back at the other girls and Eris "There's a lot of people out there" she whispered loudly

Caine stepped forward and turned to face everyone "Now girls, if there is one thing we all learnt, it's to never get the nerves get the best of us. We go out there, we show them what we've got, and we step out of the stage feeling proud" then she turned to Eris "And we won't have _any_one to mess it up for us _will _we…" she hissed. The dark haired girl merely looked at her patiently.

Eris couldn't help but walk over to the curtain. She slowly pulled the side of the curtain a little bit, enough for her to see the view. She saw a vast amount of people and strangely, they were all wearing black. _'What's up with the Northerners wearing black nowadays?'_ Eris thought to herself. But she scanned the crowd hoping to spot if Edmund was there. She could have sworn that she saw him but she couldn't see in time because she was instantly pulled back by Caine

"What is _wrong _with you? You can't just peek through the curtain!" She said in a whisper but loud enough to be heard

"Well that girl did the same just a moment ago" Eris said matter-of-factly.

"Well _you _can't because _you're_ not one of us and _you_ have no right!"

Eris was about to argue back when the old man showed up again "Okay girls, you're going to be up in one minute, are you all ready?" he said in a stressful tone

All the girls nodded their heads except for Eris. In fact, she was panicking. She had no idea what she was supposed to do, all the teaching was no use for her as she wasn't paying attention. _'Well I guess I'll just copy whatever they're going to do. …Oh Aslan where is Susan and Lucy? I miss everyone. I want to be out of here! I never asked for this!' _Eris panicked to herself

The bell rang which indicated the show to begin. Now was the time to shine….

Or perish with embarrassment.

()()()

While Eris was getting taught the dance routine for the show, Edmund found himself walking along the open corridor once again with the friendly marsh-wiggle at his side.

"I can't believe I have to wear this" Edmund said depressingly "If Peter saw this he would never look at me the same way again, not to mention laughing hysterically"

"It is what it is… you can't always get what you want in life, remember that" Wicklebourn said.

Edmund sighed "I know…" he looked down at himself. He was wearing a long sleeved white tunic - which was in a style of a collar shirt – and it was lengthened up to the middle of his thighs. On his neck, lay a black bow tie, which was almost suffocating the dark haired boy. Underneath, he wore black leggings which were extra tight; thus, it made the boy feel extremely uncomfortable. To make things worse for Edmund, he was forced to wear black flat shoes which were plain and dull and he wasn't wearing any socks either. He was not used to wearing flats as he was constantly wearing his favourite knee high boots. And to top it off, Wicklebourn gave him a black cloak to drape over the boy which only just touched the floor. But all in all, he couldn't stop reminding himself of how ridiculous he looked

"But Wick I look awful… look at me!…" Edmund huffed "you know what, I refuse to take another step forward" at this, he stopped in his tracks and turned around to walk the opposite direction but was stopped as the marsh-wiggle grabbed his wrists and turned him back around

"Not so fast young 'un. You are to attend this party or else the Queen will not be very pleased"

"Oh for Aslan's sake, I couldn't care less if she's pleased or not! I don't live my life to please anyone and I'm not going to be ordered to attend a party that I don't want to be in, mark my words I am _not_ attending!"

But the luck that Edmund hoped for turned its back on him because the next thing he knew, he is pushed into a wide opened hall which was filled with many human beings (or Son of Franks) all dressed in dark clothing. Edmund turned back to the creature and scowled at him for pushing him all the way from the other end of the corridor, to the party. However, the creature just smiled well naturedly before handing Edmund a tray filled with traditional Narnian wine and freshly squeezed lemonade juice.

Edmund reached out his hand to take the lemonade juice but Wicklebourn immediately turned the tray out of Edmund's reach. "No, I haven't given you this for you to drink. As you are meant to be the entertainer, you are also expected to give the guests their desired drinks"

Edmund narrowed his eyes, then sighed dejectedly as he was intensely thirsty from having not eaten or drunk anything since he was thrown into the dungeons. He took the tray from the marsh wiggle and the creature gave him one last look

"Remember, after the party, you must come back to my room, you understand that?"

"Oh…uh okay then" Edmund said. The creature turned around and walked out of the party. Edmund couldn't help but envy the creature. After all, he didn't have to experience being in this celebration.

Edmund turned around, while tightly gripping the tray in hand, all while trying not to spill the drinks. He took in the sight of the party. He saw a banner in the ceiling that read "**Welcome back**" on it and there was a big stage which Edmund thought was peculiar. He noted how everyone was almost camouflaged in black clothing; it was difficult to see if a person was a man or a woman. Over to the far right side, was a drink stand. _'Why on earth am I expected to hold a tray of drinks when there is a drink stand right over there?' _Edmund thought to himself

The place was quite crowded and the only thing he wished was to be back home. Cair Paravel was much more colorful and vibrant whereas being here only encouraged him to feel more depressed. In all honesty, he missed his brother. He also missed his sisters but he and Peter held a strong bond and he was surprized that he had managed to cope without being with Peter for a couple of days now.

Edmund looked around to see if there was a chair nearby. Unfortunately, there was none in sight so he had no choice but to stand and wait for the party to finish. He hadn't even been instructed on what to do and _who_ he had to approach, so Edmund decided to stand out of sight and use that reason for an excuse if Janet asks him why he hadn't done what she asked.

Out of nowhere, a bell rang which startled Edmund. It seemed to have come from the stage which was presented in front of him (even though he was at the very back of the hall). At this, everyone fell silent which only confused the dark haired boy even more. What is going on?

Then a round bright light was focused on the stage so everyone could see the acts and everyone started clapping their hands. Edmund couldn't clap as he was still gripping his tray.

Whilst everyone was clapping, five girls appeared from the left side of the curtain, and onto the center of the stage. Edmund then realised that there was going to be a show which was why everyone was silent. He observed every girl. He noted how all of them where wearing the same dress.

'_Orange….gross' _Edmund thought as he scrunched up his nose with disgust.

He also noted how they all had the same hairstyle. _'Perhaps this is their signature look or something'_ Edmund reasoned to himself. He then sighed impatiently. '_This is ridiculous! I can't believe I have been kidnapped here, let alone be forced to attend this party just to watch a pointless dance! Where are you Peter? I need you' _

He also couldn't believe how inappropriate the dresses looked on the girls. And the crowd didn't seem to be bothered by it. Perhaps they were used to it. The girls all put on plastered smiles on their faces.

However, a ginger haired girl at the end of the line slowly looked to her left (backstage) which didn't go unnoticed by Edmund. He saw that she kept the plastered smile on her face but somehow, a frown was evident, _'she looks somehow annoyed'_ Edmund thought to himself as he observed her closer, trying to figure out who she was referring to backstage.

Suddenly, another girl was pushed on to the stage with a panicked expression. Edmund then realised that this was why the ginger haired girl furrowed her eyebrow backstage. She had been looking at the other girl who had been pushed in just moments ago.

The crowd were oblivious though, unlike Edmund. He knew that the other girl was either late coming in to the stage, or was forced as it looked as if she was shoved. She seemed out of place because unlike the other girls, she didn't put on a smile on her face and she looked lost in general, as if she would rather be anywhere else but here

'…_That's strange'_ Edmund thought '_that girl sort of looks like-' _then he gasped. Some people nearby gave him weird looks and Edmund gave them a weak smile until they turned away.

He looked back at the girl with wide eyes. He took in the dark hair and the pale skin…which seemed strangely paler. "Eris?" he whispered quietly to himself. He noted that she was wearing makeup as her skin looked like snow compared to the other girls.

But one thing he didn't understand was that she was actually wearing a dress. He hadn't seen her wear a dress except the time when she first arrived to Cair Paravel and borrowed Susan's turquoise dress. He never thought that he'd see Eris like this; he knew that she was uncomfortable since she looked like she would burst from panicking.

Edmund himself couldn't help but snicker to himself. This was highly amusing. But he was also glad that Eris wasn't in the dungeon this whole while he was planning on dressing up.

The music started and it was very upbeat and very foreign in Edmund's ears. It had a mix of guitar and piano with a strong burst of the drums

The girls immediately put both their hands to their sides and they started shaking their hips from side to side in rhythm to the drums. Eris had obviously come in bad timing and Edmund couldn't help but laugh at the sight. He saw how Eris was looking to her right and watching what the other girls were doing seeing as she had no idea.

Then the girls all walked forward in an exaggerated manner (flicking their feet high up with each step) with a menacing expression on their faces, and when they reached to the front they bent down side ways, exposing their backside to the audience. In response, the men whistled and smiled with satisfaction.

Eris however, walked forward along with the other girls but stopped dead in her tracks as she saw what the other girls did after that. The red haired girl beside Eris looked at her with a threatening look as she maintained her erotic position. But Eris refused to do it and just stood there.

Edmund couldn't help but laugh even harder, while trying to be quiet so as to not bring attention from nearby people. Eris's expression was priceless, he could tell she was shocked with the wide eyes and the fact that she was standing there acting like a wall.

The girls slowly lifted up their upper bodies slowly in a seductive manner while looking at the audience with alluring expressions which had expectantly received a positive reaction from the audience as some began to cheer while some clapped their hands with approval.

The music became more faster as the girls quickly walked backwards while effectively moving their feet in professional ways that Eris couldn't succeed in. Then they bought both of their arms up while working at their feet gracefully. Of course, Eris tried to do that but unfortunately couldn't pull it off so she just gave up and stood there looking helpless and frustrated.

On the other side of the hall, Janet was raging with anger. '_That girl is messing up everything!_' she thought angrily to herself. She knew that this would've been a bad idea. But she calmed down as she thought of the consequences for the girl '_its back to the dungeon for her'_ she concluded with an evil grin. However, that wasn't the only reason why she suddenly felt better. She had much better plans in store.  
She quickly turned around to face a fairly aged human woman and an aged man who had stuck by Janet the whole time.

"Bonnet! Wendell! Now's the time. I'll go and look for him. In the mean time, go to the highest floor, which is the third story and meet me in the room which is directly above my bedchambers. Got that?"

Both the man and woman, or Wendell and Bonnet as Janet had called them, both looked at each other in a sinister manner with excitement before looking back at Janet

"Yes your majesty" they both said, before they eagerly exited the party. Once that was done, Janet turned back around and looked at Eris who was growing even worse at the dance steps. She huffed and headed towards backstage.

Edmund who was still stood at the back of the hall continued to watch the show and was amused at Eris's difficulty. He saw how she avoided all the kinky moves and he noted the fed up expression on her face. He never thought that he'd live to see this day. And now he had something to tease her about.

Eris, who was on stage had grown extremely unhappy. She was confused and didn't know what she was doing. All the leg and arm movement was even more complicated in her eyes and she had grown tired and uneasy. She looked back at the crowd and felt sick. There were too many of them and she didn't know if she could handle it much longer.

Edmund noticed that Eris had given up suddenly. She looked helplessly at the crowd and he hoped that he could be seen, but he knew that the light that was shown on her was too bright for her to see clearly. After the feeble look on the dark haired girl's face, she ran out of the stage. But strangely, the audience didn't seem to notice seeing as how they were too focused on the other girls and no doubt enjoying their every move. Edmund grew worried, he wondered if she was okay, for he knew that if he was placed in a situation like that, he would die with embarrassment.

He looked back down at his tray of drinks and then back up at the party crowd and decided that it was time to move around offering party guests their drinks.

In no time, he was already crowded with people. _'Are these people parched or what?'_ Edmund thought as he was being squashed by dozens of party guests.

()()()

The minute Eris ran out of the stage, she didn't stop. She _couldn't_ stop, for she knew that if she was caught, she'd be a goner.

She ran as fast as her legs carried her, she didn't care anymore, she didn't care who would look at her, she needed to get as far away from Janet as possible

She didn't know when she made it to the wide spaced corridors of the castle, she just kept going. She didn't even remember when she exited the backstage, her mind was set elsewhere. '_W__e _have_ to get out of here; I can't bear to see myself standing in this castle anymore, especially knowing that little Finn is trapped in the dungeons all alone and Edmund somewhere I don't know, please Aslan help us till the death'_

Her breathing increased by the minute and she could even hear herself panting with every step she'd take. '_Aslan please don't let me get caught'_

Her heart was beating so fast she thought that it would pop out any minute, she kept on running.

Suddenly, she stopped as she found that she was at a dead end. She heard noises that sounded like two creatures running after her. Eris narrowed her eyes while panting… '_That voice sounds like…_—_'_ then she widened her eyes as she came to realization. It was Apollo. He despised her and he wouldn't hesitate to kill her instantly

She could feel herself beginning to panic. '_Please Aslan; give me some sort of sign!_'

The voices grew clearer.

Eris heard murmuring voices to her left; she turned around and saw two black panthers chatting amongst themselves. They obviously hadn't noticed the girl yet. Eris looked behind them to see what they were guarding, and saw that they were guarding a door. Eris's heart leaped as she noticed that the door would lead you outside and into a dark forest. But Eris didn't care as long as it led her outside and away from the castle.

She jogged closer to the black panthers in hope that they wouldn't know that she is a prisoner. The two creatures looked up and instantly bowed down to her in shame for not noticing her in the first place

"Greetings Lady Caine, what brings you here today?" One of the panthers asked. Eris's eyes widened. She wasn't Caine and she wouldn't dream of being so, but she decided to play along with the idea as it is better than them knowing she's a prisoner

"Greetings….um…panthers" she stammered idiotically, but luckily the two creatures didn't seem to notice.

The noises of the two Minotaur's were coming closer now and Eris had to act fast. She looked at the wide door behind the panthers and came up with an idea

"Um…Queen Janet has ordered me to…uh…hunt for food" Eris said, voicing her mind, then realised how stupid of an excuse that was, but it was too late so she continued on "open the doors for me so I shall pass my good friends"

The panthers looked at each other and back at Eris mysteriously "Queen Janet ordered _you_ to hunt for food? That's a job for our finest wolves Lady Caine, it is far too dangerous"

The voices grew louder and closer

"It's okay! She let me do the job now open the doors!" she panicked

"No Lady Caine, this isn't the job for you, we highly doubt that the Queen ordered you to do such a thing. In fact, we were going to ask you how the show went but seeing as you're in a hurry—"

"The show went fine now let me through! Queen Janet _has_ ordered me so"

Eris suddenly looked back as she saw two big shadows of the two Minotaur's nearing them and their shouts were now dangerously close.

The fifteen year old spun back round and dashed past the Panthers without thinking and effortlessly pushed the doors wide open with a grunt.

Once she was exposed to the evening air, she made a run for it; she went as fast as she possible could with adrenaline invading every inch of her body. She didn't stop. And she didn't plan on doing any time soon.

She could hear Apollo screaming and shouting with defeat. She dared to crane her neck whilst running and she could have sworn that she saw Apollo and the other prison guard killing the two panthers for letting her go. She turned back around to keep track of where she was running to.

"We'll get you for this, mark my words half breed!" Apollo shouted at Eris which she most clearly heard.

She couldn't help but let two tears fall across her cheek. She still ran. She was now tired and was panting heavily. Her dress wasn't puffy anymore, the ends of the dress now flopped down which Eris was glad about seeing as it didn't appear so short anymore.

Finally, when thinking that she was far enough, she stopped by a large rock. Her hands tightly gripped her bare knees and she breathed quickly. She couldn't believe that she'd finally manage to escape.

'_The doors weren't even locked! I'm surprised that I manage to get out so simply, oh thank you Aslan, thank you!' _

But that wasn't it. Edmund and Finn were still in there. She pondered on how to get them out, but if she got back in there, she knew that they'd instantly kill her or no doubt torture her until death. But a king and a little faun is trapped in there! She'd have to get help

Then she snapped her fingers as she'd come up with an idea. '_I'd have to get help! I can't do this alone. Maybe there are creatures living in here—' _Then she stopped and sighed dejectedly. There was no way that the creatures from the north will side up with her. They worshiped Janet, so how on earth will she get help from someone who is enemies with her?

Eris sighed again and looked at her surroundings and found out where she was. There were trees, bushes and lots of grass. She was in the outer layer of the forest and she was surprised that she'd ran this far. Once she got her breath back she stood up to explore and maybe if she was lucky, she could come up with an idea and also find a lake to remove her retched make up.

()()()

"Ah Edmund there you are" Queen Janet cackled grimly

Edmund now stood in the far end of the party with an empty tray which had been empty a while ago and rather quickly as well

The boy narrowed his eyes at her "What do you want and when is this party going to finish?" he said in a monotone voice

Janet smiled and put her arms around the boy "Now"

Edmund was surprised and glad, but also uncomfortable at the chubby arm wrapped around him and the big body he was roughly pressed against. They were now walking towards the exit of the doors

"You see" Janet continued whilst walking "I have been rather hard on you and Erich"

"It's Eris" he corrected dully

"Whatever. I have come to a realization that I'm going to free you"

Edmund's eyes widened, then he glared up at her "You're up to something" he suspected

"Oh no no no dear little Edmund" she cooed. By now they were walking up the stairs towards the third floor "I'm not up to anything"

Edmund looked around "Where are you taking me?"

"If I were you I'd best shut up boy" she blurted

Edmund had a queasy feeling in his stomach which was unusual for him. His legs were already aching from walking up the stairs. "And if I were you, I'd tell you where we're going"

Janet glared at Edmund and withdrew her arm from his shoulder and instead, grabbed his upper arm in a painful grip. Edmund winced and he finally had enough. He tried to turn and run back down the stairs but Janet was too strong

"Not so fast little boy" Janet said.

Edmund grew angry. He hated being called a 'little boy' and Janet wasn't letting him go

"Let me go!" he shouted

By now, they made it to the third floor with difficulty. Edmund used all of his strength to get out of Janet's hold. He succeeded and made a run for it. But Janet already grabbed him and threw him into a room. He flew across the room and banged himself against a wall. Edmund groaned at the harsh impact.

He recovered and looked around the room. He noticed that there were two other people. One man and one woman. Janet closed and locked the door; she turned to face Edmund who layed on the floor from the fall, with a wicked smile

Edmund's heart was beating fast, he wouldn't ever admit this but he was scared. He'd never been this frightened ever since the White Witch but seeing as he was weaponless and locked in a windowless room he had every right to be terrified

Wendell, the aged man, looked at Janet for permission. When Janet nodded, he stepped in front of Edmund and kneeled down in front of him. He held a tiny nail sized vial which was colored black between his fingers.

Edmund saw this and started thrashing about, trying to escape the man's hold of him.

Wendell – seeing as Edmund was quite strong - looked at Bonnet for help. She came forward and forcefully grabbed Edmund's head up by his hair. Bonnet looked at the man and nodded her head

"Quickly Wendell, before he thrashes again" she urged. The man immediately tipped the whole content of the vial into Edmund's mouth and Edmund tried with all his might not swallow the liquid. But Bonnet and Wendell didn't move until the boy swallowed everything.

Edmund felt a sharp pain on his side as he found out that Janet had kicked him. This made him swallow the black substance

"Swallow it you fool!" Then she noticed that he swallowed "That's better" she had a pleased look on her face but was quickly replaced with wicked treachery

Edmund grimaced at the taste of the awful vial. It was really bitter and disgusting for his liking. And he had no idea why he was forced to drink and what effect it would have on him seeing as he was perfectly normal. Bonnet and Wendell let him go and Edmund immediately sat up and glared at the man and woman. He then glared at Janet

"What do you want from me?" Edmund demanded, his tone brave

Janet didn't reply, instead she looked at him expectantly with a grim smile on her face, "Five, four, three, two…" and when she came to one, Edmund suddenly felt hazy. His vision occasionally went blurry and he felt his limbs getting heavier and heavier. It was as if his strength was getting sucked out of him.

Janet looked at Edmund as he fought to keep his strength. His eye lids shut and opened again repetitively. He groaned painfully and he caught himself from falling forward by leaning on his hands in front of him.

Edmund felt weak. He felt a cold hand on his shoulder, and his head was pulled up to face Bonnet. He looked frighteningly at the woman as she put on a triumphant smile.

Before he knew it, he felt cold, chapped lips impacting hard against his own and his eyes widened as he realised that his fear was about to come true

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**Goodness this was quite a long chapter, no wonder it took a long time. And guess what guys! Eris has escaped! Oh lordy lord many things could happen now :D Please review and tell me what you all think**

**A/N: Okay I know this chapter isn't as graphical as you may have thought it would (based on my warnings and stuff) but I**_** will**_** tell you that the next chapter will be a bit more…..explicit? …yeah I can't think of another word but the next chapter will be up soon**

**A/N 2: Yes I am aware that I am not good at writing dance routines, but I hope you still understand what was going on. For the music I had the song 'Candyman' by Christina Aguilera in mind while the girls were dancing on stage so i hope you get the idea of the music in that scene. PLEASE REVIEW!**


	14. V1: Even when I'm not there, I'm there

**Chapter 14**

**A/N: Warning: this chapter contains actions of rape and violence/abuse so if you don't like it, then don't read. Thanks again to those who reviewed; it really makes me overjoyed to hear that you're enjoying this. Here's chapter 14 :)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything… that's right, have sympathy for me…**

* * *

_Susan and Lucy on their way north…_

Ever since the horses had been found, both Susan and Lucy travelled on their own stallions without having to share a horse. Thus, it had been far easier and more comfortable to travel and it had definitely made Susan and Lucy more content now that they had gotten their worry over their lost horses out of their minds

Lucy couldn't help but realise that the fresh scent of the glowing nature that had once surrounded her, had faded away, and they were now exposed to a more open setting with hardly any trees to hide them.

"Susan, where are we now? Are we there yet? I'm kind of sensing that we are near. Being around here…it feels…unwelcoming… it's different from back home at the Cair"

Susan couldn't help but agree. She too, noticed the cooler air and the lack of nature surrounding them. She also didn't feel as safe, knowing how far from home they had come.

But then she mentally cursed herself. Edmund was out there. _Her own brother!_ He was probably feeling more frightened seeing as he is weaponless and probably confused because of how it all occurred all of a sudden. He was in a far worse situation than her, and here she was, feeling scared about being in a place that's so foreign. She had to stay strong, not just for Lucy, but for her brother as well.

"That's right Lucy, but you have to realise that not everywhere in Narnia is the same as Cair Paravel. Some places are colder, some places are hotter, and some are just completely different from our expectations" At this, Lucy rolled her eyes. This was where 'Logical' Susan came in, "Just like in our world, you don't see every country or city in the same condition as the North Pole do you? No. And a fair example is that England is always cold, unlike Australia which is always warm. Also, New Zealand is quite—"

"Oh do shut up Susan, I understand quite well by now" Lucy giggled. And Susan blushed as she realised that she blabbered on again. It was a bad habit that she picked up ever since the four Pevensie's tumbled out of the Professor's wardrobe.

General Haddon – who was very confused by their conversation as he had been next to them throughout the whole travel – decided to answer Lucy's question knowing how curious she was "My Queens, we are getting near to our journey's end, for all we know the Northern Castle of Queen Janet could come to sight at any time"

Lucy gasped, and clutched her horse's reins even tighter making her knuckles appear white "If we're near, that means Peter is probably near too! And that means we could catch sight of him and Caspian soon! We should keep our eyes peeled Su, after all we need to make sure if they're okay"

The corners of Susan's mouth lifted up with amusement "Lucy, we've only just gotten word from Sybil yesterday that Peter and Caspian are well and safe"

Lucy nodded in agreement "I guess your right" then she sighed "I just miss them"

Susan wanted to hug Lucy right then, to reassure her. But they were both seated on their horses who were trotting onwards, and if she tried… it wouldn't have ended well. So instead she said "I miss them too Lucy. In fact I wish all of this never even happened (don't we all?)"

General Haddon spoke up "Aye your majesty, Queen Janet had committed serious crimes against all of the Narnian laws which will consequently lead to horrid punishment"

"But the main thing, is that we have Aslan to help and guide us" Lucy said softly but enough for Susan and the general to hear. Susan smiled, she really admired Lucy's faith, even at times like these, her faith would never fail to fade.

"You're absolutely right Lucy" Susan praised which Lucy replied by smiling at her older sister with gratitude. The gentle Queen looked ahead again. "We should keep an eye out now" she announced, referring to both Lucy and the general and the guards too "we are nearing. You never know what unexpected surprises we may come across"

()()()

_At the highest floor of the Castle…_

The upper half of his body was now fully exposed and Edmund noticed it when he felt an unusually cold sensation collide with his skin. His eyes were half open as he fought to keep them opened and he tried with all his might to thrash and fight the two villains away from him.

"Keep still, boy" Bonnet said menacingly while desperately wanting to things done immediately. Edmund groaned and started kicking his legs high up and towards Bonnet as he tried to fight her away. But it was useless as his strength drained away from him, so all he could do was lift his leg slowly up without any force or impact.

Bonnet sighed with impatience. She sat back for a moment to tie her dirty blonde hair back in a low ponytail. And when she was done, she crawled over with a triumphant smile on her face and straddled Edmund.

Edmund groaned louder as felt a heavy weight on his hips and started coughing as it was making him hard to breath. He opened his eyes wider as he felt Bonnet's cold hands slide all over his chest and his torso with a hungry look in her eyes

"S-stop plea-se" he managed to whisper, albeit with a lot of effort. He looked over to see Janet sitting on a chair while drinking wine. When she caught the dark haired boy's helpless face, she smiled cruelly

"You should get prepared Edmund" she said in a mocking high pitched voice "Your virginity will be taken away from you, and there will be no Peter to save you" she laughed victoriously

Edmund couldn't stop the tears that already rolled down at the ends of his eyes. He was helpless and he wished he had his swords. He would have instantly killed Janet with one swipe.

All of a sudden he felt another pair of cold chapped lips against his, and this time, it wasn't Bonnet because he felt her move away from his hips. He then realised that it was Wendell. His eyes widened – with effort of course – and he tried to push him off. He moaned with terror and helplessness as the man was far stronger than him. He could almost taste the wine from the older man's mouth and he couldn't help but cry harder. '_Please, please let me go' _He wanted to say

He felt Bonnet's tongue trail all over his chest and torso while her cold palms trailed every inch of his stomach. Wendell groaned into the kiss and forcefully slid his tongue into Edmund's mouth. Edmund couldn't take it. He moved his head to the other side with a disgusted look on his face. He cried out loudly while his tears intensified.

"You're a tough one ain't 'cha" Wendell said as he grabbed a fistful of Edmund's hair. He dragged it back so Edmund could fully look at him. Edmund whimpered at the pain on his scalp. Then his lips were invaded again by Wendell's rough ones. Edmund screamed into the kiss which Wendell ignored as he kept on going.

"Do it Bonnet" Janet ordered from across the room. "This will be fun to watch" Janet said to herself while taking another sip of her wine with an amusing smirk on her wrinkled features Bonnet looked up at her Queen and squealed with excitement as she obeyed.

Edmund continued to scream and yell, even when Wendell finished with the kiss, Edmund continued to scream as loud as he could - despite him being drugged - in hope for someone to hear and rescue him. But being in the highest room of the castle, it was unlikely that someone could be able to hear his screams.

His voice suddenly hitched as he felt cold hands attempting to drag his leggings down. He immediately thrashed his legs as hard as he could, but unfortunately, his strength was fully drained, thus, the best he could do was wave his legs in all directions.

"Ple-ase" he whimpered. But Wendell and Bonnet only laughed at his helpless form. By now, his lips were red and swollen, his chest had hickeys and scratch marks on it from Bonnet's sharp nails and his eyes were red and filled with tears.

Wendell started to suck and kiss the skin on the younger king's chest and abdomen area and Edmund tried to move his hands so he could push him away but the vial affected him strongly so he couldn't find the strength to do so.

Bonnet slowly took off Edmund's leggings and Edmund began crying and screaming harder, not with humiliation, but with anger and for his powerless condition. He felt Bonnet's cold hands stroke his legs and calf ever so slowly and it made him shiver

Bonnet immediately began to take off her dress and once that was gone, she took off her undergarments without hesitation. She didn't bother to take off her undershirt knowing that it would be useless to use her upper half of her body. She proceeded in stroking Edmund's legs. By now, he was shivering with fright from not knowing what was going to happen next

From the far corner of the room, Janet smiled happily. By now, she was mildly drunk and she unsteadily got up on her feet and walked over to where Edmund lay helplessly. She bent down to look at the boy who was now whimpering with anger and fear as he could not find his strength to scream anymore.

She looked up at the aged man opposite of her "Thank you Wendell" she said "Your job here is done, go back to the party and see how the show is going and report back to me, I need to know if everything is going well, for all I know that hybrid could have ruined everything"

Wendell stood up to bow at his Queen "Of course your majesty" he was disappointed of course, but he wouldn't dare to let his Queen know, for she isn't nice when she got angry, so he quickly walked out of the room while straightening his bow tie.

Once he was gone, Janet looked back down at the boy and suspiciously stroked his hair. The boy didn't dare to meet Janet's eyes, he was filled with rage.

"You will never see the light of day" she whispered softly to Edmund "Your brother is a coward. He was never fit to be a high king and you are just as dull-witted as him. You are pathetic and you don't deserve to live"

She looked back at Bonnet who was now playing at Edmund's undergarment with hungry eyes. Once she caught her eyes, she nodded at her. Janet looked back at Edmund. His eyes were now fully closed and his whimpers increased to screams again as he felt his undergarment being taken off.

Janet placed her cracked and rough lips hard against Edmund's and she immediately forced her tongue into his mouth so his screamed wouldn't increase once the act began. Edmund could once again taste the wine but this time it was stronger.

Edmund screamed really loud as he felt Bonnet's cold palms fully rapped against his manhood, he then felt something warm and he dared to open his eyes to see what she was doing. With increasing effort, he finally opened his eyes slightly, and he looked to see Bonnet's mouth bobbing up and down as she was sucking on it vigorously.

He shut his eyes incredibly tight. His mouth was still being invaded by Janet but he stopped screaming. He couldn't scream anymore. For a moment, he thought he'd lost his voice. He whimpered and sobbed. He couldn't take it anymore. He felt pain, he felt it emotionally and physically and it wouldn't stop.

Then he felt Bonnet stop and stand up and he felt Janet smirk evilly against his lips and his heart sped up.

He felt panic rising through his body. He knew what was going to come. '_No. No. No this can't happen. Please Aslan please, please! Make this stop!'_

With effort, he opened his eye's slightly again and he saw Bonnet getting into position. His heart felt like it was going to stop deliberately at any moment. Janet stopped her kiss-invasion and looked at Edmund with the same knowing smirk

"Your nightmares will begin and no one here is going to hear your screams, long live the Just king" she cackled grimly.

All Edmund could do was tightly shut his tear filled eyes and whimper powerlessly. He felt like he wanted to die right there. He didn't want his virginity taken away from him, he wanted to save it and make it special, but all of that was going to be taken away from him dramatically and there was nothing he could do seeing as he was too drugged and helpless to do anything. He waited…

He sensed that Bonnet was getting ready, and Janet was laughing with amusement. The tension was killing him. Edmund still kept his eyes shut; his tears kept coming as he waited. He didn't realise that he had been shaking with fright.

And just as Bonnet was going to slide down, a sudden loud noise came from nowhere.

It knocked Bonnet and Janet off balance as they screamed and fell to the floor with a bang

Edmund opened his eyes slightly, with effort, as he heard the loud noise. It sounded like… a lion's roar

'_Aslan….' _Edmund thought. If he had the energy to smile, he would have done it, but he was still weak.

The sudden noise had frightened the two women. Bonnet looked at Janet from the floor in which she fell in "Your majesty, what was that?" she whispered urgently

Janet looked just as shocked "I-I-I don't know" she stuttered, though she was drunk, she seemed more awake than before. They were both shocked. There were no animals in sight and the fact that they were all alone in the highest room of the castle seemed even more suspicious.

Janet instantly stood up "Quick, get the boy dressed"

"But-"

"Just do it! If you dare question the my decisions, I shall have you beheaded in no time!"

Bonnet lowered her head in shame "Y-yes your majesty" and proceeded in dressing Edmund back into his clothes again albeit she did it harshly, ignoring the boy's groans of pain

Janet looked at Bonnet once she and Edmund were now fully changed back into their clothes "Bonnet, can you pick up the boy?"

"Um…" she looked unsure, "I'll try my best, your majesty"

"Good, I can't be having myself to go all the way down to fetch Wendell, I'm not worth wasting my own time, now follow me, quick" she walked towards the corner of the room and picked up a long dagger and walked back out.

Bonnet slowly picked up the boy's limp body with a groan "Goodness, you're heavy" she grimaced at how weak she was, she couldn't even pick up a weapon let alone a person. Soon she walked out of the room with the boy in hand

"Hurry up" she heard Janet call out

After walking down three long flights of stairs they reached the very bottom floor of the castle. The hallways were even smaller than before and Janet came across the two prison guards

"Apollo, open up the doors, Edmund is going back in there" Janet ordered. Apollo obeyed, though with a look of worry on his features. Once the doors were opened, he saw Edmund's unmoving body.

Janet walked into the rusty dungeon and saw the little faun crouched against the wall while hugging his knees. He looked frighteningly up at Janet. Janet smirked at the terrified look on his face. She looked back at Bonnet with an impatient look on her face "Well? What are you waiting for?"

Bonnet instantly threw Edmund into the floor beside the wall and he groaned with discomfort.

"You may leave now" Janet ordered to Bonnet

"Yes your majesty" she said with a bow, though she was disappointed that she didn't get to deflower anyone that day, she walked out of the room to get back to the party in hopes of finding someone else to 'play' with.

Janet looked back at Edmund with a disappointed look "Pathetic boy, you're not worth my time, you're not worth anyone's time, you're a coward as well as that brother of yours" she looked back at Finn before turning around to walk out of the dungeon

"Err... your majesty..." Apollo started hesitantly

"What!" she said impatiently

Apollo flinched and looked back at the other prison guard helplessly, but he knew he had to get it out sooner or later "I-it's about Eris"

"I don't want to hear it, I already know she ruined the show, that's why I'm going to find her, I'm going to bring her back here to give her a good beating, this shall be good" she said proudly before attempting to walk off again, but she was stopped again by the Minotaur

"No, your majesty, it's…it's not that, it's… well…"

"Hurry up, and get on with it, I have other duty's to do" she grew even more impatient

"She's escaped your majesty" he blurted out

Janet immediately paled, her eyes grew wide and her anger was beginning to build "What?" she whispered angrily

Edmund, on the other side of the dungeon heard this. He felt his heart leap as he was shocked and he instantly felt relieved. He was overjoyed that she'd manage to escape, because that way, help would be more effective. He couldn't smile as his strength still didn't return but he would have been smiling like there was no tomorrow if he had the strength to do so

"Your ma—"

"She's escaped?" she shouted. Her voice echoed through the small hallway. Her breathing quickened dangerously, and the guards began to feel uncomfortable.

Suddenly, Janet turned around to look at Edmund, who lay on the hard rusty ground and she quickly walked towards the boy. "You knew about this didn't you" She got her long dagger out – which could be easily mistaken for a sword – and she slashed hard at the left side of Edmund's stomach. Edmund let out a howl of pain. Finn, on the other end of the dungeon clasped his mouth to prevent himself from screaming with fright at the horrible sight before him. He wanted to run towards the young king, but his ankles were chained and he couldn't reach him

Janet looked at Edmund as he scrunched his eyes tight. He tried to clutch at his side but he failed miserably. His tears were evidently visible. Soon she saw a small pool of crimson blood underneath him and she was satisfied enough.

"Farewell young _king, _You shall die a slow and painful death" she seethed before she glanced a quick threatening look at Finn before departing. The doors were soon closed and locked with a click

()()()

_The north-east travel…_

"King Peter, perhaps we should mount, our horses have been walking non-stop without rest today" Caspian suggested.

"Yes your right" By the time Peter said that, Caspian had already mounted off his horse. But when Peter landed on the ground, he groaned with pain "aargh!" he instantly clutched at the left side of his stomach and his eyes were scrunched up. Caspian – who had reacted quickly – jumped to action immediately and stood beside Peter while rubbing his back

"Peter? Are you okay?" he said urgently, not even bothered to say his full title.

The sudden pain was gone and after a while, Peter sighed with relief, he was glad that it was over as the pain was incredibly intense. He felt strange. What just happened? He looked down at his side but no blood was visible, in fact he didn't feel a scar or anything unusual after that. But he was sure that it felt like someone had just slashed their sword at his side.

"I-I'm fine" he stuttered out. He was shocked at the sudden agony; he'd never gotten this before. And he knew full well that this was definitely not something that he should ignore.

'_Perhaps it's a sign of some sort'_ Peter thought to himself. But then a sudden image of Edmund came into his mind. It terrified Peter but he shook his head, trying to get rid of the vision, he coaxed himself that it was just his mind playing tricks. '_I guess that's what I get by getting stressed and overly worried_' Peter reasoned with himself

"You don't look fine to me" Caspian said as he noted Peter's confused expression and the random head shake.

Peter looked at the brunette with a neutral face "I _am_ fine Caspian. It was just a side-effect from being too stressed. Don't worry I'm fine" Caspian only looked at the blonde with a frown. Peter sighed "Do you see any blood on me?" the brunette looked at the area which the blonde was grasping earlier and surprisingly found nothing

"Exactly" Peter finished as he turned back around to sit against a tree.

Caspian was about to join him when a guard called out "Your majesties High King Peter and King Caspian!" a fierce cat whispered out "It appears we may have found some intruders of some sort, my lords"

Immediately Peter stood up and Caspian followed. Peter craned his neck around to face Caspian and he put his finger in front of his lips to silently tell him to be quiet. Caspian nodded and they both proceeded in peaking through a big tree.

They both slowly poke their eyes out from the tree and they could make out a little crowd of diverse animals. There were little guards scattered about with red uniform which had the lions face on it and Peter could see a big centaur talking to two young girls.

He gasped "It's Lucy and Susan!" he cried merrily. He could make out Susan's dark blue knight dress and Lucy's red version. Caspian was shocked and excited to finally see them again, especially the fact that they were safe. Both of the kings turned around and headed back to mount on their horses

"My guards, we are going over to them. It appears that these 'intruders' are none other than my royal sisters, Queens Susan and Lucy" Peter announced. There were immediately murmurs of happiness and joy from the Narnians. But it was still crucial that they remained quiet.

As soon as the boys mounted, they immediately trotted their horses closer to the direction where Susan, Lucy and the General stood.

Lucy immediately spotted her brother "Susan! Susan! Look! It's Peter and Caspian!" Susan abruptly turned around and the two girls quickly mounted off their horse as did Peter and Caspian.

Susan ran over to embrace Peter with a broad smile on her face and Lucy ran to hug Caspian while laughing with joy.

"Oh Peter I'm so glad to see you all unharmed" Susan's voice muffled from Peter's shoulder

"I've been thinking a lot about you and Lucy" Peter replied. Soon they let go and Peter was soon wrapped around Lucy

Susan looked at Caspian for a second before crushing him in a tight embrace "Caspian" was all she breathed out before they kissed fiercely, making up for all the days they've been separated

"Oh get a room!" Lucy teased, making her and Peter laugh. Susan and Caspian blushed crimson pink before laughing along.

Peter turned around to see General Haddon, he stepped closer to the centaur "Thank you, general. For taking care of my sisters" he appreciated.

The general laughed softly "Thank you, my king. It is my job after all, though I must say, your sisters are very wise, thus, I don't think my help was much needed for they are as brave as you are your majesty"

Peter laughed gently. He turned around to see Lucy, Susan and Caspian talking about their experience. He could hear Lucy talking excitedly about when they found their horses. But then he frowned to himself. '_This isn't supposed to happen yet'_ he thought to himself '_We can't be happy yet, my brother is in trouble, Aslan knows what he is going through' _Then he winced as he remembered the vivid vision that he got earlier

'_Oh Aslan, please don't let that happen to him…'_

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**Yay I updated this on New Years Day! I hope you all have a happy new year, make sure you stick to your new year's resolution, now please make me happy and review! Hope you all have a good day! **

**Next chapter coming up very soon, so stay tuned!**


	15. V1: Peter, the distressed 18 year old

**Chapter 15**

**A/N: This chapter could get a bit angsty on Peter's side, but I don't blame him….HIS BROTHER IS OUT THERE AND EXPOSED TO DANGER! …Yeah so anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

**A/N 2: By the way, I'm thinking about writing little mini one shots – so if you have any suggestions on what you want me to write, just PM me. It can be about ****anything **

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to the CON. All credit goes to C.S. Lewis**

* * *

_At the Northern Forest…_

Eris had been walking around for what seemed like forever. The cloudy sky did no good in lighting her mood. She couldn't be happy; she can't class herself as 'being free'. Yes, she had escaped, but two of her dearest friends were still in the castle and still in grave danger, and what's worse was that she had absolutely no idea on what to do now.

She had been walking for ages trying to look for something, _any_thing or someone that will help her, but her luck seemed to have vanished. The only thing that kept her optimism up was the green nature. The grass felt like silk beneath her feet and the trees made the same rustling noise that she had been so used to back when she had been homeless in the Western Forest, It was the only thing that actually made her feel worth wile

With a sigh she sat down, leaning her back against a tree. She looked around one more time to see if any one was there. To her disappointment, the place continued to feel lifeless as no one was in sight.

She closed her eyes in frustration and wrapped her arms around her knees and rested her head in between them. She had no idea what to do, no one was around and whenever there was, they would never dream of helping a foreigner because they worshipped Janet.

By now, she had already removed her heavy make up back when she found a nearby lake. She felt so much cleaner and radiant on her skin now that the chemicals were finally off. But she hadn't bathed in days and her hair was getting greasy. She tried to wash her hair when she stopped by the lake but she knew that if she did, she would have developed a cold so she only proceeded in washing her face clean. She felt vastly uncomfortable, knowing that she was dirty. All she craved at the moment was to take a nice warm bath.

Suddenly, a noise drew her back to reality. It sounded like a stick cracking from someone stepping on it. Her head shot up slowly. However, she maintained her position of her arms wrapped around her knees. She looked around in all directions, but no one was there

She stood up slowly and went to grab her sword from her waist but then she realised that she had no weapon. She felt annoyed at this, but she continued looking around nonetheless

"Who's there?" she asked, trying to make her voice sound brave.

There was no answer. She stood there for a few moments before slowly taking a step forward.

"Is anyone there?" she tried again. This time, there was another noise. It sounded like someone rustling a bush. Eris immediately turned around at the direction of the noise, but she still found no one

She cautiously took another step forward, and another one. "Hello…?" she said slowly but clear enough.

She took several slow steps forward occasionally shouting "Show yourself" before she felt a cloth wrap around her mouth, gagging her.

She immediately screamed, but the cloth around her mouth was muffling her voice. She lifted her arm to grasp the person's arm which was wrapped around her neck. Then the capturer pulled Eris's wrists and held it firmly so that her arms were placed behind her back.

Eris noticed that there was more than one person, but she couldn't see who they were because their grips were too tight. She felt a pang of panic and then anger. She tried to get out of their grasp by moving rapidly in all directions possible, but it was still no use, but that didn't stop her from trying to break free. She didn't stop screaming, she was screaming at them to let her go but the cloth around her mouth made it sound like "Mm mm mm!"

But they paid no heed to the girl; instead they pushed her forward so that they were heading at the opposite direction that Eris had been going. Eris felt petrified. What if they were going to take her back to the castle? Her heart rate quickened and her thoughts were filled with an angry Janet and a pain filled beating, with scars that would never fade away.

After many attempts of breaking free and a vast increase in her screams, they were exposed to an open area. Eris had never seen this area before - even though she had passed it long ago - perhaps she hadn't paid as much attention to her surroundings as she should have.

Strangely, the people who were capturing Eris were unnaturally quiet. Eris thought that they were the most patient kidnappers she'd ever faced, but was also wondering why. She noted that her arms were beginning to ache and started moving more frantically for freedom.

()()()

Peter and Lucy were stood, watching their five horses (that belonged to Susan, Lucy, Peter, Caspian and the spare horse that Susan and Lucy shared before they found their own horses during their travel) grazing.

Peter let Lucy groom each of the horses knowing how much his sister loved animals, especially taking care of them.

"I love brushing the horses manes" Lucy commented happily. Peter was amazed at how optimistic Lucy was, even though her brother was held captive, she still felt content in any situation and he really needed it because somehow, it made him grow high hopes too.

He smiled at her "You've always have Lu" then he looked up to see his second younger sister sat down on the grass – quite far away from him and Lucy– with Caspian opposite of her. He noted how much happier Susan was when she was with Caspian, and it made him happy as well because the one thing he hated the most was seeing one of his siblings down or upset. He liked Caspian because he made his sister happy. But of course, it took a long time for Caspian to earn the high king's trust.

The general came trotting towards the high king "Your majesty" he greeted with a bow in which Peter replied by bowing back and smiling up at him

"Yes General?"

"We need to discuss our battle plans _now_. I and several of the guards have traveled closer to see how far we have until we reach the castle and in fact, it wasn't even that far until we saw the castle in sight" Peter pursed his lips at that; he could hear Lucy gasp softly, and the General continued "We are much closer to the castle than you think"

Peter thought for a moment. He needed to come up with a plan fast, because if they were near, then that means that the battle will start soon, if not, tomorrow. After a few moments of thinking and coming up with a conclusion, he looked up with his face filled with nothing but determination

"We raid the castle" he said simply

"But your majesty, we did the exact same thing when we raided the castle of Miraz and we all know how that went out, perhaps it is best that we should think of—"

"General, this is a different matter" Peter said sharply, though he didn't intend to sound harsh, he couldn't control it. His brother was captured and Peter was worried sick. "We have no choice. I say this because the Northerners don't expect a battle, this makes it far better for us because it will fall unexpected for them. It will leave us to be able to take advantage of them being unprepared. I'm not saying this because it was _my_ idea; I'm suggesting this for _Edmund_, for my brother to be returned safely. This isn't the same as the raid of the Telmarines, I was an idiot then. But this idea is the _only _choice we have"

Peter felt Lucy's lithe fingers touching his elbow for comfort. In all honesty he hadn't meant to snap at his General, he needed to voice his emotions before it got bottled up inside of him and this was the only way he could do it

"Forgive me your majesty, I didn't think of it this way" the centaur said, although it was unusual for him to apologize.

Peter immediately felt a pang of guilt, he lowered his head, pulling Lucy into a hug for further comfort "No General, there is absolutely no reason for you to apologize" he looked up "I'm just worried… and… I know it's not like me to say this but… I'm scared too"

At this, the High King had left Peter's body and was left with a grieving eighteen year old needing the presence of his younger brother. Lucy noticed this and clung tighter around his waist

"We all miss him Peter, but don't forget that Aslan is always here. He would never do anything to hurt us because he loves us and we are good" she said reassuringly

Peter let a tear fall from his cheek; he instantly wiped it away and knelt down to give his sister a proper hug.

"Thanks Lu" was all he said before he stood up to face his General, "General, would you please inform everyone else about the plan?"

The General bowed "Of course your majesty"

"Don't forget Susan and Caspian, I still haven't told them" he added. The general nodded and retreated

Lucy looked at Peter "Are you okay Peter?" she asked.

But before Peter could answer, a guard from the distance called out "Your majesty! We have captured an intruder! An enemy! Perhaps she can give us answers!"

Peter immediately turned around. Susan and Caspian immediately ran to stand near Peter and Lucy to see what was going on. Peter saw two of his guards carrying what looked like a human girl. It appeared that they had gagged her seeing as the girl's scream sounded muffled. Peter and the others were eyeing the hideous dress that she was wearing. Even though the puffiness had deflated, it was located just above her bare knees which was still rather short in their perspective. She had an angered look in her face as she tried with all her might to break free

When the guards finally stood in front of the monarchs, they threw the girl forward so she landed on her hands and knees. She immediately got rid of the cloth from her mouth and threw it on the floor with fury

"That was absolutely uncalled for!" she motioned to the guards accusingly "Do you have any idea how long I've been trying to get out of that place? Do you? No! Because now you guys can't seem to leave me alone! It's _disgusting_ what you people do! Especially to innocent people! My mouth hurts now thanks to _you_! If I had my sword, I would have cut your throats and fed them to the cannibals you ungrateful pigs!" she cursed resentfully

During her angry accusations Susan looked carefully at the girl. The fact that she mentioned her sword and the way she described that she had been trying to get out of 'that place' made her think. Her voice was familiar too, even though it was filled with loathe. Her features stood out too '_Where do I know this girl from?' _Immediately after that, she gasped loudly and it caught everyone's attention.

The girl looked up as well. It was the first time she noticed that there were four other people standing on the other side of her.

"Eris?" Susan asked breathlessly. Instantly, the girl on the floor looked up at her with wide eyes. Then she looked at the other three with a shocked expression. It was then that the others finally realised who this girl was.

"Susan?" she said, feeling more shocked than ever. Immediately, Lucy acted too fast for Eris to react

"Eris!" she cried happily before she ran and hugged her in a crashing embrace.

The two guards who captured her looked at each other guiltily but then they realised that they had done a good thing, because if they hadn't 'captured' her, then she wouldn't have been found, so they had nothing to worry about.

"Oh Lucy!" Eris said feeling relieved. She already had tears in her eyes as she missed hugging the younger Queen "I've missed you so much" she whispered against the top of her head. Lucy then pulled away and looked at her up and down with an amused smile

"Oh my goodness Eris what on earth are you wearing?" Lucy asked, trying to hold her laughter in.

"It's a long story" Eris said in a dreading manner but smiling nonetheless. She looked up at Susan and saw her smiling in a welcoming manner. Eris instantly stood up and ran towards her in a tight embrace. They stayed like that for a few moments before pulling away. They looked at each other before laughing and hugging each other again. It seemed like so long since Eris had seen her best friend, so it was quite emotional for her to finally see them.

When they let go again, Eris was faced with Caspian. He too, had a relieved expression on his face judging by his crooked smile "Greetings Eris" he said amusingly. But Eris didn't reply, she straight away hugged him "Now's not the time for formality Caspian" she said over his shoulder with a laugh.

"I'll remember that" Caspian said after they let go.

Eris smiled and turned around to face Peter. Immediately, her smile faded because what she saw, wasn't the High King, but a worried and guilt-ridden brother. He stood there, looking at Eris expectantly and it tore her heart to see him like this. She knew how much Peter had missed Edmund; she knew how terrified he was for his well-being and she felt like crying at the thought because she knew she would have felt the same way if she was in his position. She stepped closer to Peter and slowly hugged him reassuringly and patted his back, hoping that it would comfort him. Peter didn't exactly hug her back but he loosely rested his hands on her back. Eris felt Peter tremble lightly against her and she knew instantly that he was crying.

She pulled apart from him and she saw his now darker blue eyes filled with tears. Susan and Lucy walked to stand on each side of Peter and they both rubbed Peter's back in hopes of making him feel better

Eris saw that Susan and Lucy also held grief in their expressions and she instantly knew why. The fact that she'd been found alone and not with Edmund, made them think that Edmund somehow didn't make it. The mere thought made Eris want to throw up

Suddenly, Peter put both of his hands on Eris's shoulders in a panicked manner.

"Edmund…Where's Edmund?" his voice hitched when he said Edmund's name. And when Eris looked up to see Peter, she saw that his face paled and his eyes grew wide with panic and his hands subconsciously gripped tighter, but Eris didn't mind.

She took Peter's hands off of her shoulders gently and slowly "He's still in the castle. Don't worry Peter, the last time I saw him, he was perfectly fine" she saw the relieved looks on the monarchs faces "But I fear that it won't last long, because that was quite a while ago" she turned to fully face the others "which is why we must act fast"

Peter fully straightened up and sobered. His features were fierce and the High King was back in action "Then we must start this battle now"

"Wait" Eris said urgently, she quickly looked at Susan "Please tell me you have spare clothes, _please_!" she begged desperately. She didn't want to be seen in this dress any longer.

Susan shrugged helplessly "I'm sorry Eris, there isn't any. We didn't think that you'd be wearing a dress exactly, knowing that you hate them and all…" Eris groaned in dismay

"Why did you choose to wear it anyway? Especially _that_" Lucy pointed with her finger towards the dress "It's so short… and are you even wearing any leggings underneath?" she giggled

Eris turned pink but sobered when she realised what she said "_I didn't_ choose to wear this" she defended "Janet forced me to wear it for the show…"

"The show?" Peter asked, growing concerned.

"Yes. Janet is holding a celebration party right this minute, and it was held to welcome her back from her travel from the Cair" she saw Peter clench his teeth, but she continued "And she told me that I was needed for the party. And it turned out that I was needed for a dance show held by prostitutes my age" Susan scrunched her nose at the idea "I didn't want to dance on the show, but I was literally pushed into the stage and I tried my best to imitate what the girls were doing but then the moves turned kind of sexual …so I stopped and before I knew it, I was running everywhere in the castle. Then I found two guards guarding a door which lead to the Northern forest, which was used for hunting. At the end, I managed to break free… it was rather easy to be honest because they didn't even bother to lock the doors, so I finally managed to get out and after that I made a run for it and I didn't stop until my legs felt like falling off"

"And... what about Edmund? Where was he when this happened?" Peter asked hopefully

Eris shrugged slowly and shook her head lightly "I don't know… the last time I saw him was when we were in the dungeons (yes we were thrown into dungeons for a few days). Janet came in dressed in her party clothes and she said that she needed Edmund to be the 'entertainer' of the party, and that was when she dragged Edmund out"

Peter stopped and stared at Eris "Entertainer? What exactly did she mean by 'entertainer'?"

"I'm not sure"

Susan looked at Peter "I've never heard of an individual being an 'entertainer' at a party... that's rather odd" Peter agreed with his sister. There was no such thing as being an 'entertainer' and even if there was; he knew that somehow it wasn't good

"I'm sorry, but that's all the information I have. That was the last time I saw him" Eris announced rather woefully. Everyone was silent after that, and it was no doubt that they were thinking of their brother, or in Caspian's case, his friend.

Eris suddenly looked up "Do you- do you in any case… have our weapons?"

"Yes" Susan said, noticing the bright expression on Eris's face "Come" she motioned for her to follow.

Not long after, Eris was lead to Susan's horse, Credentino, and the Gentle Queen opened up a sack that was resting beside the horse's waist and pulled out the Eris's weapon. Eris gasped at the familiar sword. It had been days since she had last held it and it was probably the first time that she had been separated from it for this long.

"Thank you" she whispered in happiness. She instantly took the sword from Susan's hold before she unsheathed it and started to slash it in different directions in mid-air to take in the familiar feeling.

Susan watched Eris swing her sword; her slashes were incredibly fast that it made a 'whooshing' noise every time she swung it down. She could see how it made Eris feel more like herself.

Eris finally stopped, and panted and once she gained her breath back she turned to face Susan thankfully "You didn't forget…"

"I would never forget" Susan smiled and went back to the sack where she took out Eris's sword and she gave Eris her belt as well, which was used to hold the sword to her waist. Eris gasped and Susan got to work on wrapping the belt around her waist. Once she did that, Eris sheathed her sword again and secured it on the belt so it was held firmly, without having to hold on to it every time

"Thank you Susan" Eris said gratefully

Susan smiled "Come on, we need to get back to the others" Eris nodded and followed Susan

Once they were back, they noticed the sword hanging down from Eris's belt. It looked rather funny, seeing as she wasn't dressed in armour but she was carrying a sword.

"We've decided to begin battle tonight" Peter announced.

"You can't!" Eris blurted out "You must start _now_"

"That's crazy Eris, we can't go _now_" Caspian interjected

"Okay not _now,_ what I mean was is that we should start _preparing_ now. There's no time to lose. Janet is prone to make decisions in a matter of seconds, for all we know she might have thrown Edmund back into that death smelling dungeon" Eris pointed out

"And the sooner we get there, the more effective it will be to rescue Edmund" Susan added.

"Exactly" Eris said "and it will be the last thing they'd expect. Trust me; I _know_ that Janet has no soldiers prepared".

Peter and Caspian looked at each other before looking back at Susan and Eris. After a long moment of thinking, Peter spoke "I never thought of it that way" then he straightened up and raised his voice higher so that every Narnian soldier can hear him "It is finally settled" by now Peter caught all of the Narnian's attention "We shall prepare for battle now. We are not far from Janet's castle, and we should fight our way for Edmund's freedom!"

"To the death!" General Haddon shouted in reply, which was then followed by all of the Narnian soldiers echoing after him

Peter turned back around to his siblings and friends "We shall get prepared now" he looked at Susan and Lucy "Su, Lu, remember what I said?"

"Yes Peter" Lucy answered "We shall stay in the side lines, away from the battle, and we will wait for you there, hopefully with Edmund"

Peter nodded; pleased with the answer "Good" and he kissed her on the forehead

Then his attentions were placed on Eris, and he frowned "Don't tell me you're going into battle like _that_" he said, indicating the lack of armour. Eris frowned back, but with determination, not anger.

"Yes, I shall fight for Edmund's and Narnia's freedom. Armour or not, I'm still fighting" she said stubbornly

Susan stood in front of her and observed Eris up and down "Eris, you're not hurt are you? Surely being in the dungeon could have physically harmed you"

"No, no of course not" but Susan didn't look convinced. And Eris pointed to herself up and down "Do I look like I'm limping?" She asked

"Well… as long as you're _not _limping, you should be fine. But… you're not bleeding anywhere are you?" She asked cautiously

"…Well, they did whip me on my right thigh, but it wasn't so bad. The pain only lasted for a couple of minutes and it hardly drew any blood out. But in other words, I'm perfectly fine, even when I poke it, it leaves no pain anymore. I'm fine Susan, and for goodness sake stop giving me that look" she defended

"Well alright then, I'm just worried because we're going to be in battle and I need to make sure that you're physically able to fight"

"Thanks Susan" she said gratefully. It's nice to have someone care about you every once in a while, especially after being kidnapped and cooped in a dark castle for days

"Wait, I'll be right back" Peter said randomly, before running off in one direction.

Susan turned back around to face the others "We're all dressed in our armory, but Eris I'm worried about you, you aren't dressed in armour whatsoever, how are you going to defend yourself?"

In all honesty, Eris didn't know herself, but she didn't want something like this to stop her from battling against the people who harmed her and Edmund and her little friend, Finn

Peter came back with an extra shield which he handed to Eris. "Here, you're lucky that we even had an extra shield in hand, and I figured that you're definitely going to need it. It's big as well, which means you can defend yourself more effectively"

"Oh thank you, this will really come in handy" Eris said gratefully

"Don't mention it" Peter replied. Then he looked at everyone else "Are we all ready? The Narnians are waiting for us" everyone nodded their heads and soon, they were all headed onward

()()()

It was not long until a big dull castle came in sight. At first glance, everyone felt anger, especially Peter, who had been clenching and unclenching his teeth unconsciously. This was the very castle that his brother was held captive. He was glad that Eris had escaped, because now he could only focus on getting his brother back.

Everyone stood there, with all the Narnian soldiers behind them; they were all contemplating on how the castle looked. It was dark and uninviting. They all held fierce expressions, and it was clear

They were ready and prepared.

Peter could not imagine how his brother must be feeling at this moment, but he was pulled out of his thoughts when Lucy tapped him on the arm. He kneeled down so he was leveled with Lucy's gaze "Lucy?"

Lucy looked down and grabbed hold of something. Then she slowly grabbed Peter's hand and placed something on his palm. Peter looked down at what was placed in his hand and gasped at what it was

"Just in case" Lucy said quietly

Peter knew instantly at what Lucy meant. He leaned forward and pressed a kiss on Lucy's cheek "Thank you" he whispered before he stood up with pride and loyalty, being the High King he was.

He cautiously put in his pocket: the juice of the Fire-flower cordial

* * *

**Please review and tell me what you think. Eris has finally returned! …But Edmund and Finn are still held captive; I wonder what will happen next. I know I say this all the time, but reviews are my motivation so please review like you've never reviewed before!**


	16. V1: The Northern Battle Part 1

**Chapter 16**

**A/N: Please enjoy this chapter**

**Disclaimer: The Chronicles of Narnia belongs to C.S. Lewis**

* * *

_Outside of the Northern Castle…_

"Soldiers, take your positions" General Haddon ordered in a loud sharp voice in order to be heard

Soon, all the soldiers behind them began moving about, taking their positions whether it was the front, the side lines, or behind the castle. Soon the castle was surrounded by Narnians.

They were all stood. They were all ready. They were all waiting. Just a single shout from their High King and off they fought, battling for their Just King's freedom.

The tension was building. The High King stood, along with Caspian on his right; Susan and Lucy beside Caspian, and Eris on Peter's left, following their General.

They held their weapons tightly on their hands. Peter, Caspian, Eris and General Haddon were holding their swords (Peter and Eris holding their shield), Susan was clutching her bow with an arrow leaning on the string and Lucy was gripping Susan's armour for protection, but otherwise, gripping her dagger just in case

Peter looked past Caspian to look at Susan; once he got her attention he leaned towards her "Now's the time... get to the area I told you about, and keep Lucy safe"

Susan nodded "Okay, and _you_ keep safe too" at this she looked at Caspian "both of you" she turned round and grabbed Lucy's hand before running to the place she was told to be in

Peter watched her and Lucy go. And when they were out of sight he took a deep breath. He looked at Caspian and then at Eris and General Haddon.

"Are you with me?" he asked determinedly while staring straight forward

"To the death" they cried simultaneously

Peter took another slow deep breath before raising Rhindon up in the air "For Narnia!"

"And for Aslan!" every Narnian cried out

()()()

_At the celebration hall…_

"Mother isn't this just delightful?" Darreth said excitedly to his mum while lightly grabbing her arm for her attention

Janet immediately shook her arm away from her son in disgust and ignored him. The celebration party was growing busy and it wasn't until that the show ended that the hall grew louder carelessly. Janet was talking to a couple of her party guests while desperately trying to ignore Darreth's want for her attention

"Mother. Mother!"

With an angered deep breath, she turned around, her eyes fuming and her voice seething in a low tone "I have just about had _enough_ of you! You can never do anything to make me proud, you can never find yourself a decent girl, you always get yourself into trouble and I am _ashamed_ to have you as a son!" Darreth stood there with his eyes wide, shocked "And that is why I'm avoiding you at all costs. I don't want anyone to think I have a _coward_ as a son, now leave me be and do whatever it is that you consider to be_ fun_" with that said, the chubby woman turned back around, resuming her conversation with her guests while Darreth felt like crying. He couldn't believe his own mother had the heart to put him down like that

_Coward... _that word rang in his head

Suddenly the big doors of the great hall opened revealing a black wide chested Minotaur tightly holding his sword. The hall instantly became silent. The creature's eyes were red and wide with alert "Your majesty! We are being raided! The Narnians! They're raiding!"

Almost like a flash of thunder, everyone in the room were screaming and running aimlessly around with panic.

Janet instantly pushed past panicking guests until she reached the lead soldier following Darreth closely behind. "What do you mean we're being raided? Speak!"

"Your majesty, the Narnians! They've been planning war against us, they're currently raiding us as we speak, we must hurry"

"Have you sent our soldiers?"

"Yes almost immediately I did, but we need to get you and your son safe before the worst happens" at this, the creature looked at the brunette boy standing behind Janet

"Nonsense, I will be fighting. I shall not be sitting around while my soldiers lack my presence with them. I shall go"

"But your majesty—"

"Don't question my orders!" she bellowed, making the creature jump

"Very well your majesty. But we must act quickly, for we have not much time"

Janet rushed past the creature

"Your majesty what about your son?" the Minotaur called after his Queen. But Janet merely ignored him and was soon out of sight in the castle

"It's alright" Darreth said to the creature with pain in his eyes. He knew now that he was unwanted by his mother. He should have known from the beginning. Her actions in the past all made sense to him now. All the beatings that he had endured were all because of her hatred towards him. Now he was a coward

_Coward..._

That word sprung in his head by the sound of his mother's voice which pained him deep inside

_Coward!_

He winced and put it in the back of his mind. He straightened up as he heard the distant cries of the Narnian soldiers from outside and he ignored the terrified cries of the Northern guests from behind him and walked forward

"My prince where do you think you're going?" the Minotaur asked in a more non friendly tone seeing as the Queen wasn't here

The prince stopped. His eyebrows had been furrowed with anger the whole time. Not for the Narnians. . . but for his mother

_Coward!_

He closed his eyes slowly "I'm fighting" with that said, he ran. He ran for his bedchambers. He ran for his sword. He ran for his revenge.

()()()

_The battle…_

At first, it had all been a blur to Peter, but being in many fights in the past; he soon managed to clear his mind and managed to focus on the battle which had started before him not moments before. It had started quickly, for the minute he and the Narnians ran down towards the castle; the opposing enemies quickly descended from the Northern castle and immediately diverged to all directions possible.

Then it became a clash of red and silver.

The blonde king slashed his sword down to his very first enemy. The Northerner he was fighting was fast, he had to admit, but he had been trained to maintain his power when hitting someone. All he felt was anger and rage. His brother had never left his mind. All his thoughts were on his brother. _Edmund. Edmund!_

Peter ducked, preventing himself from being sliced in the head. And while he knelt down, he looked to see the enemies' legs, unshielded and uncovered. He immediately took advantage of this and rapidly swung his foot from behind the enemies' foot causing the man to fall on his back. Peter immediately stood up and towered over the enemy. He threw the man's sword out of his grasp from his own and ended the man's life with a stab through it's chain mail

Peter looked up and noticed that _every_where around him was hectic, cries and shouts filled the land and he could see Caspian not far from him confidently fighting and ending a life of a Northerner, before fighting off another one.

A Minotaur came his away and Peter crossed blades with him for defense, and then the sounds of metal clashing against with metal were ringing on his ears. His thoughts were only of his brother which was why he was incredibly fast during his fight. He could be little to less than a mile away from him, he could be near.

With a stab on the creatures back, the Minotaur howled and fell to the floor, lifeless.

Peter looked up, panting and alert as ever, and saw the great doors of the castle. He just needed to get in; find Edmund and end this battle once and for all. But he didn't know where he could be located; he knew by the looks of the castle that it was as big as Cair Paravel itself and thus, meaning that there were many, many rooms.

The high king suddenly looked around, desperate to find Eris. She was the only person who knew where Edmund could be as she had been in the dungeons with him. Peter's heart rate sped up at the mere thought of his brother in a dungeon but he shook away the thought and looked in all directions possible.

Finally, he saw a glimpse of orange at the corner of his eye and turned his head towards the direction. He saw Eris protectively shielding herself - with the shield that he had given her - as she was unarmed and vulnerable, whilst fighting off a Northerner.

"Eris!" he cried in order to be heard from the screams and yells in the background. Eris turned her head towards his direction, but she quickly turned back to her opponent as he almost thrust his sword in her, but she dodged out of the way just in time. And with an expeditious movement, she clashed her sword against the other soldier's sword in order to distract him and rapidly took advantage of his right side of the body as it wasn't being shielded and plunged her sword into the enemy. With a cry, the enemy landed on its knees and fell on his stomach, dead.

She looked up, panting heavily, to see Peter's flushed face

"We need to get inside!" he cried amongst the noise. Eris nodded her head, instantly knowing what Peter was saying and quickly ran past him

"Come on, this way!" she urged him to follow her.

They were close to getting to the doors – as it was wide open from where the Northerners entered outside – when another soldier, a dwarf, came out of nowhere and Eris suddenly found herself clashing swords with him. She shouldn't have ever underestimated dwarfs, they _may_ be small but their skills were class.

She grunted as the dwarf kicked her in the shin. The dwarf saw a weakness and slammed his sword really hard against Eris's. Unfortunately, her sword fell out of her grasp and the dwarf grinned a yellow toothed smile as if he had victory

Eris panicked . . . she had to think fast

"Eris your shield! Use your shield!" Peter encouraged

Before the dwarf could even react, Eris got hold of her shield; held it back and – with a grunt - slammed it powerfully on the dwarf's head, which immediately made the creature slump down, unconscious

The girl smiled and sighed with relief as did Peter.

The blonde king looked back and then back at Eris, who went to pick up her fallen sword

"Come on, before anyone else comes up on us!" he said desperately. Eris picked up her sword and sheathed it before running into the castle along with Peter.

They had finally made it. They stopped for a few moments to get their breath back.

"Come on, this way" Eris whispered, for now it was quite in the castle and all that was heard, was the distant cries of the battle from outside.

As they hurried along the wide spaced corridors, which were all too familiar to Eris, Peter felt a bit scared but angry no doubt. This was where his brother was taken. He looked around and he noticed that everywhere he looked was dark; he tried to look around to see if there were any vibrant colours in sight, but there were none. '_At least it matches with Janet's personality'_, Peter thought. He also noticed the strange smell, it was all too foreign for him and everything around him felt suspicious… Janet was _still_ not in sight

"Eris" Peter whispered from behind her "Are you sure you know where we're going?"

"Positive" she replied.

Now they were headed towards the spiral stairs which lead to the underground of the castle, where the dungeons were located.

They both stood there for a second. Eris was hesitating while Peter was observing the dark, misty stairs. He then looked up at Eris who was staring down at the stairs that lead to the cells; her hands were clenched tightly and her eyes were distant

"Are you okay?" Peter asked

Eris looked up, her facial features were softer now, but then it grew serious. "It's nothing, it's just… being back here… it feels… it makes me feel like being back here, all lost and vulnerable and helpless" Peter rested his hand on her shoulder for comfort, he knew how horrible she must be feeling right now, going back to the place where you most desperately wanted to escape

"But that's not it" she continued.

Peter gave her a questioning look "What do you mean? Edmund's not there?" he said horrifyingly, Eris shushed him into being quieter

"No" she whispered to him as if it was the most pathetic thing that he had said. She leaned in closer in order to be heard clearly. She pointed down towards the stairs "There are guards down there, those guards where the one's who whipped at me. If they see me, they are sure to kill me right away. We must kill them first in order to get to Edmund"

Peter then understood "Don't worry, they will have to go through me first" he sheathed his sword for preparation and Eris smiled gratefully, he was definitely like an older brother to her. But speaking of brothers, Peter needed to save his, so she took the lead and slowly crept down the stairs occasionally turning back to put a finger on her lips in a way to tell Peter to be quiet.

After what felt like hours, they both finally made it down the stairs without being heard, thanks to Aslan. And for a minute they both stood there, Eris was looking around, getting used to the familiarity. Peter was patiently waiting.

"There" Eris mouthed to Peter while pointed to the direction of a long, narrow hall.

They paced down the hall, knowing that there was no point in being quiet when they would be caught anyway. Suddenly, two familiar guards came in to Eris's sight

"Who goes there!" she heard Apollo shout.

Eris craned her neck to face Peter; she sheathed her sword bravely and warned "Get ready"

Peter, with his sword already out, walked faster so that he was in front of Eris, ready to take the head first shot. He knew she was anxious to see those guards again, knowing that they harmed her, made him all the more furious.

"You there! Stop! In the name of Janet I command you to stop!" the other guard next to Apollo shouted

"And in the name of Aslan, I command you to shut your bloody mouth" Peter shouted, using the English insult with rage as he instantly slammed his sword down at the other guard. How dare he use the name of the person that had commanded to kidnap Eris and his brother? All his thoughts were red. Red with anger and fury. These were the people that had harmed his loved ones. And each clash of metal was his way of releasing his rage.

Eris narrowed her eyes at the familiar villain before her, and she gripped her sword tighter with her right hand and her shield in her other hand. The Minotaur seemed shocked at first to see her, but then he began to laugh in an evil manner. Eris still stood there, patiently. It was hard to focus her attention on Apollo, when Peter and the other guard were clashing their swords not far away from them, but her attention was still focused on Apollo nevertheless

"Well, well, well if it isn't '_Princess Eris'_ here to save the day" he mocked. And Eris instantly impacted her blade to the Minotaur's - who had reacted quickly – with venom anger written on her almost hazel eyes

"It's _Eris_ . . . _Just _Eris_. _Get it right you foul beast!"

It was then, that the duel had begun. Apollo swung his arm back and swung it back forward but only to be intercepted by Eris

"You'd best run, little girl" Apollo seethed while swinging his sword back towards her, but Eris immediately defended it by her shield. She swung and aimed for his head but Apollo ducked and soon, they switched positions. Eris craned her neck slightly and noticed that the dungeon doors were now right behind her. But she had to finish Apollo first

"If I run, I'd be a failure" they crossed blades together and they looked at each other fiercely "Like you" Eris finished.

Apollo felt furious, he rapidly thrusted his sword again and again towards Eris and she kept intercepting repeatedly for what seemed like a long few minutes.

"I will not be called a failure by some girl" Apollo seethed in between clashes

Eris sensed that Apollo was growing weaker by the minute and she smiled. This was her real trick as to how she rarely lost duels. She would spend the first few minutes intercepting the clashes from her opponent, and then when the opponent would grow tired, she would use her remaining strength clashing her enemy down with full force that they can't be able to handle, seeing as they had used more than half of their energy in the first round

So after a few more minutes of ducking; clashing; swinging and dodging and ducking again, Eris then began to use her remaining strength in full force. She raised her sword up and swung with such intensity that the creature almost lost balance. Then she did it again and the guard's sword fell.  
Apollo went to reach for it but Eris put her foot on top of the weapon with a vicious smirk on her face and kicked the sword with her foot very hard so that it skidded to a far off distance and away from the creature's reach

Eris acted fast. When Apollo faced away from Eris – no doubt looking at his sword – Eris repeated her act from earlier. She took her shield and banged it intensely against the Minotaur's head, causing him to black out and slump face flat on the hard tiled floor

Eris knew that what she was about to do would haunt in her nightmares but she chose to do it anyway… after all it was the same as fighting in an army battle but this was more… personal. She took her sword and plunged it deep within the creature. Once she was sure that the creature was dead and out of this world, she pulled her sword back out and it was covered with the creature's blood, she would have to clean it later.

A yell from the other prison guard and a grunt from Peter soon took Eris out of her thoughts. She had almost forgotten that Peter had his own duel going on and it seemed that it wasn't going to end any time soon

"How dare you kidnap my friends and family!" Peter shouted in between the fast clashes of their swords

"Your friends and family are useless and pathetic" the enemy seethed. Peter by now was fuming but the prison guard didn't stop "Your brother is a useless piece of filth! It's no wonder Janet didn't want to take his purity"

Peter ducked from the swing that was aimed at his neck. And he suddenly felt horrified. What did he mean by '_to take his purity'_? He rapidly stood up and intercepted the clash from his shield.

"And that lion of yours that you believe in-"

"That lion, is none other than Aslan himself! The King of Kings in Narnia" Peter shouted with a swing that was predictably defended by the opponent

The guard put on a ridiculous grin on his face "Aslan, Aslan" he laughed bitterly. Both Peter and the guard automatically stopped their dueling, the prison guard realised that mere words, had put an effect on the high king so there was no need for a sword duel.

The prison guard stepped closer to Peter, so close that they were almost nose to nose

"This _Aslan,_ that you filthy Narnians talk about " he spat the word 'Aslan' as if it was poisonous "is none other than a fake filthy animal. And I hate to break it to you, but Aslan isn't real and he will never be—" suddenly the guard painfully gasped, his yellow eyes were wide open as he stared at Peter and then he made to fall on top of the boy, but the high king pushed the guard away from him so that the creature fell on his back.

Peter was confused, but as he looked up he saw Eris still holding her sword, which was now smeared with blood. She was panting and her eyes showed nothing but anger. She slowly lowered her sword and her breathing slowed down

"Eris… you... how can I ever thank you?"

"You don't have to, I would never expect anything in return" she was still looking at the dead guard in front of her

"Are… Are you alright?" Peter asked. Eris finally looked up at Peter and her gaze seemed more relaxed now

"I've never… done that before, I've never felt this angry… but don't worry, I'm fine now" she smiled for proof. And Peter could tell that she _was _feeling better, her anger had now subsided as his did as well.

Eris looked to her right and saw the dungeon doors, and she looked back at Peter. "He's in there" she said indicating the door "I'm going to go and make sure that Susan and Lucy are ready, do you want me to stay or…"

"No it's fine, I think it's a good idea; make sure that Susan and Lucy are prepared for mine and Edmund's return. After that, we shall continue battle"

"Okay" Eris said before adjusting her annoying dress, having still not being used to it, and jogged off.

Peter turned back to look at the rusty door and he didn't hesitate to run closer. Soon, he was gripping the rusty handle occasionally stepping over the dead body of Apollo and wondering how on earth Eris had been able to kill off both of the guards. He assumed that it was the anger and the sense of revenge that she felt

"Eddie" he whispered to himself, he was hoping that he would be in here. Effortlessly, the door had opened with just one push and a grunt from Peter.

"Ed? ...Edmund?" he called out the moment the door had opened.

Suddenly he stopped dead at his tracks. His face had paled, his pupils dilated, and his heart sped up, although it felt like it froze. He couldn't speak, his throat became dry and his breathing hitched

His vision had come true and what he was seeing would surely haunt him_ forever…_

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**I'm so evil, I left it at a cliff-hanger mwahahaha! **

**Please review!**


	17. V1: The Northern Battle, Part 2

**Chapter 17**

**A/N: You may need a box of tissues at your side as this chapter could get a bit emotional... okay it's not even that emotional but hey, you never know right? Also, this chapter includes mentions of blood. But I hope you enjoy it anyway **

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Chronicles of Narnia**

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_In the dungeon…_

Peter thought he was going to faint at the sight of Edmund. His brother. His own brother lay on the floor on his right side with his head facing away from where Peter was stood; his breathing was fast, raspy and painful. Every intake of breath sent millions of sharp daggers in his lungs which made it hard for him to maintain his breathing and on his left side of his stomach was a long red gash, and coming out of it was dark crimson blood. There was a fair amount of blood which was pooled underneath the dark haired boy

"Edmund!" Peter whispered urgently, albeit it sounded as if he were about to cry. In fact, he was close to tears at this point. And he immediately found himself at his brother's side. He gently picked his baby brother up, so as not to increase the pain and he cradled him close so that Edmund's head rested against Peter's chest.

"Ed… it's me Peter, I'm back, I'm here, its okay, no one's going to hurt you anymore, I won't let them…I won't…I won't" He looked once more at the nasty gash of wound and looked back at his brother. His eyes were closed but Peter knew he was still conscious because his eyebrows were furrowed in pain and the raven started whimpering at the sweet sound of his brother's voice. The sweet sound that he wanted to hear ever since he was thrown in here

"Shhh, shh Ed, its okay I'm here now" Peter whispered to reassure him after he heard his brother weakly respond. The blonde king didn't realise that he had his own tears streaming down his cheeks. This was Edmund! His brother was back, but he was gravely injured and just barely hanging on.

"I will never let anyone hurt you again Ed, please let me know you can hear me, its okay Ed. I love you" Peter was openly crying, silently. Edmund's breathing was still harsh and quick that it made Peter anxious.

Suddenly, his anxiousness was gone, because the next thing he heard was the voice that he had wanted to hear ever since he had been taken and kidnapped

"P-P-Pete-er" Edmund rasped with difficulty. His brows furrowed deeper

Peter held him tighter to reassure him "Yes Ed, it's me…it's me" he said as he took a lock of his raven hair out of the way. He kissed Edmund on the forehead and then on both of his cheeks "It's me Eddy. I will never let anyone hurt you again. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry Ed, please forgive me, I'm so sorry" Peter sobbed

"I-It's n-not y-yo-ur f-f-fault Pe-ter" Edmund whimpered in between harsh breaths. "I-I love y-ou too…"

Peter let his tears fall, and he connected his forehead with his brother's forehead and he looked into those pain-filled eyes that were closed.

By now the drug on Edmund had faded away but he still couldn't find the strength to open his eyes from the intense pain on his left side

"I love you Ed… I love you, I love you" Peter repeated "I'm sorry" he whispered. He could still feel Edmund shaking in his arms and his painful whimpers struck deep at his heart. He never wanted to see any of his siblings hurt. And seeing Edmund like this made Peter's heart fill with deep and sorrowful emotion. He felt anger towards those who had hurt him

"I… I'm sorry your majesty… I-I couldn't reach him," a petite sound came from the corner of the room. Peter looked up, his face sad and his tears evident, and saw a little faun crouched in a corner of the dungeon

"I'm in chains you see... and I would've tended to his wound but I couldn't reach him... I'm sorry your majesty" he said with his face terrified and sad at the same time

"It's okay, young faun, I… I don't think there would have been anything to help him as much anyway…" he said gravely

But then he reminded himself of Lucy's cordial. Of course! How could he forget?

He loosened his grip on Edmund a little bit, and went to grab the Fire-flower cordial. He was very thankful to Lucy for remembering to give it to him. He twisted the lid until it came off

Then he got his free hand and slid it under Edmund's head and gently tilted his head up so as to let him swallow easily. Edmund's breathing slowed down and Peter was terrified so he acted quickly. He tilted the vial until a drop came out of it and into landed into Edmund's mouth.

He put the lid back on and put it away. He turned to see that Edmund's wound had fully closed up and no more blood was evident on it, Peter felt a little relieved, Edmund had lost so much blood already

Now, was the hard part… waiting.

To Peter's horror, Edmund became stone silent. His harsh breathing and pain-filled whimpers were gone. Peter waited longer. . . but still no reaction

"No…" Peter whispered, his head shaking slowly subconsciously "No…"

He waited again, hoping that maybe a miracle could happen.

Finn, though he didn't know anything about Lucy's cordial, knew that the vial that the High King had put into Edmund's mouth was a potion of some sort, and judging by how the High King was waiting for a reaction from his brother… it can somehow... possible awaken him. And to his amazement, he saw that the wound on his left side was non-existent anymore. The faun was truly shocked. Even when the blonde king rushed into the dungeon cells, he knew straight away that he was Edmund's brother, albeit they look nothing alike.

His thoughts were pulled out of him from hearing Peter's grief-stricken scream

"ED!" Peter pulled Edmund's limp body closer to him and he buried his face in the raven's chest, sobbing his heart out for him. "Please Aslan! Please! Not like this!" he cried through the fabric of Edmund's worn out tunic.

He lifted his face, hoping to see the same witty dark eyed, evil genius brother of his staring amusingly back up at him . . . but all he received was Edmund's peaceful face. His eyelids shut; his brows no longer furrowed . . . and his weight all too limp in his hold. Peter began crying again

"Ed… Eddy… I love you. You can't leave me… you can't leave me, this can't be happening… no… Aslan… Aslan… ASLAN! WHY?" he cried, his voice choking with sobs. He rested his face back on Edmund's chest, grieving for his brother. Praying. Praying that his eyes would open. Praying to see those brown orbs again

Finn on the corner was silently crying but he was scared too. He never wanted the High King to witness his brother like this. Even though he wasn't in the situation, he still felt grief for the teenager.

"Come back" Peter whispered. By now, he held Edmund's head against his chest while crying softly through his hair "I need you… I love you. I-I miss you" he repeated over and over again

He then heard a faint noise that sounded like footsteps coming from outside of the dungeon, but he paid no heed. If it was an enemy, let them come. He was far too numb. He felt numb physically and mentally. All his focus was set on Edmund. His brother, unmoving and limp against him.

"Peter" Eris said breathlessly from running all the way "Susan and Lucy are ready for—" she gasped instantly at the sight of Peter cradling Edmund's limp figure against him, and Peter's tear-filled face. The blonde looked up at her and Eris knew he had been crying. She stood with her eyes wide, her attention set on Edmund. No… It couldn't be

"Edmund?" She said almost whispering, and ran forward, and sitting on her heels in front of Peter and Edmund. She looked up at Peter, but Peter was looking at his brother with grief written all over his features

"Peter…? W-what happened? Is- Is he…?" Eris couldn't finish her sentence. But Peter knew what she was going to ask anyway, however he couldn't find himself to speak because he felt entirely numb all over

Eris, knowing that she was going to be ignored, put her sword and shield on the ground beside her, and went to grab Edmund's wrist, but Peter pulled Edmund closer to him; away from her. His face showed anguish and heart-ache

Eris felt sorry for him, knowing the feeling herself from her family's murder, but she wasn't going to let Peter's stubbornness get in the way.

"I'm only going to check for a pulse Peter" she reasoned, trying to make sure her face didn't show sadness but it didn't work that way for Eris. Unlike Edmund, she could never keep her emotions inside of her.

Peter seemed to hesitate for a moment, before finally relenting and letting Eris grab at Edmund's wrist again.

Eris felt around the area of Edmund's wrist before she finally spotted something… or rather, _felt _something. Yes. Yes! Could it be? Oh Aslan, it was!

Peter narrowed his eyes at seeing Eris smiling wide. He bit back a growl and pulled Edmund away from her again. Eris saw this and immediately sobered.

"Why are you grinning?" Peter asked mysteriously

"I felt it!"

"Felt what?"

"His pulse! It's there, I felt it" Eris saw Peter raise his brow slightly, obviously thinking it's too good to be true. "Here" She took Edmund's wrist gently "Feel for yourself. I'm not making this up you know" she said in a low voice but with an excited tone.

Peter hesitated again. But eventually found himself feeling around Edmund's wrist trying to feel for his pulse. His eyebrows furrowed "Where?"

Eris sighed before moving Peter's fingers to where it should be "There… don't you feel it?"

Peter waited... and then nodded, a small smile evident in his face. In fact, he was beaming inside, he was silently thanking Aslan

"I- I feel it, but it's kind of faint isn't it?"

"Yeah… but at least it's there, you know? It's better than nothing…"

Peter nodded slightly and looked back down at his brother "Oh, Ed" he pulled him closer to himself and buried his face in Edmund's hair again "I knew you were strong"

Eris smiled; she was so relieved that Edmund was strong enough to hang on. She didn't know what she would do without him. He was the only one who made her smile and made her feel good about herself, especially since almost everyone around her (except the people in Cair Paravel) deeply despised her for non-understandable reasons.

She held Edmund's limp hand in both of her own hands "Hold on Edmund. I love you. Hold on" she said quietly.

"Eris…"

Eris quickly turned her head to see Finn in the far corner, still chained by the ankles, well and alive

"Finn" she called out, before crawling towards him and hugging him tightly "I'm so glad you're okay" she whispered over his petite shoulder

"Me too, I'm happy to see you again"

Eris looked down at the chains and furrowed her brows. Those simply had to go.

She looked back at where her sword lay and rushed over to get them. Once she came back, she noticed that Finn looked at her with a scared expression

"Finn, it's okay, I'm not doing what you think I'm doing. I'm just trying to unchain you. I won't let you get hurt I promise" she assured, and Finn relaxed again.

Eris pulled Finn's hoofs and parted them so that they were outstretched, and that the chains were set trailing from each hoof. She would aim at the center of the chains just in between his hoofs so that he would be free again. She saw Finn trembling a little bit and she rested her arm on his shoulder

"Finn, its okay, calm down this will be quick" Finn nodded

Peter from the other side, was watching them, clearly fascinated and desperate to distract his mind from helples gory thoughts

Eris raised her sword, and almost in an instant, she threw it down and the chains in between Finn's little hoofs had parted and soon, Eris discarded the chains from the little faun and he was free at last.

Instantly, Finn hugged the girl tightly "Thank you, oh thank you"

Eris laughed gently while patting his back soothingly "See? I told you it would be okay" she mocked amusingly and Finn playfully hit her on the elbow before he too, grinned

Eris lifted Finn up in her arms and returned back to where Peter held Edmund. She sat down whilst holding the little faun and she ran her fingers to where the chain marks were evident in Finn's small hoofs in hopes of soothing it seeing as it was quite red.

Finn eyed Peter and said carefully "Are-are you really the high king of Narnia?"

Peter grinned, albeit, his smirk didn't quite reach his eyes "Indeed I am little faun"

Finn gasped "I knew it" then he straightened up "Your majesty, I am Finn… Eris's best friend" he introduced himself pathetically. Eris couldn't help but laugh gently, before ruffling his ginger curls "It is very nice to meet you"

Peter reached forward to ruffle at his hair as well "Finn. It is a pleasure to meet you too. But I am here as your friend. So you need not call me 'your majesty' just call me Peter. From this day forward, we shall be friends, would you like that?"

Finn's eyes widened and a smile broke through his features and he looked excitedly over at Eris, who in return, smiled back at him just as excitedly. Finn looked back at Peter and nodded vigorously "Oh that would be most delightful, your ma—I mean Peter" he laughed softly in embarrassment. Eris and Peter laughed gently.

Peter had to admit, even though he had only just met Finn, he was already starting to like him. In a way, he reminded him of Lucy because even though he was here, holding his brother in his arms, Finn always had a way to make him smile… just like Lucy. Peter's smile widened at the thought.

Eris stood up and walked over to where she left her sword. Once she picked it up, she hurried back to where the others sat and sat down again.

She eyed Edmund and then looked back at Peter sympathetically; she wanted desperately to see Edmund's eyes again

"I hope he wakes up soon" Eris said quietly. And Peter nodded slowly in agreement, his face stern, but if a one was to look closely, they would see sadness in his crystal blue orbs and his cheeks showed dried tears.

Suddenly, the three of them gasped in fright at the sound of the one person who they wished was the last person they'd see.

"Don't you be getting your hopes up, _dear _child" The three individuals spun their heads to see the notorious woman standing in the doorway leaning on the side and standing on the threshold. She tightly clutched a long dagger on her left hand. And her smirk was cruel and devilish as if she had won victory

"Peter… dear little Peter… it's so good to see you again"

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**I think it's probably obvious as to who the 'notorious' woman is. But I hope you guys liked this **

**Please feed me with reviews and tell what you think!**


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